


The human Archmage.

by MrQuiades



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood and Injury, F/F, F/M, I don't know where this boat is going, M/M, Mild Blood, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, confusing plot, this will be slow at start
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-28
Updated: 2020-01-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:29:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 33,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21596149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrQuiades/pseuds/MrQuiades
Summary: Callum has done many crazy things in his life. He has ventured inside a cave looking for one of the most precious metals in the human kingdoms, has roamed inside one of the most dangerous creatures' nest to draw it, even entering the ruins of Elarion, which is infested with ghosts and creatures from beyond. But everthing have a limit, and now its time to pay. Confined in exile to guard the border.
Relationships: Callum & Claudia (The Dragon Prince), Callum & Ezran & King Harrow (The Dragon Prince), Callum & Soren (The Dragon Prince), Callum&Boomerang, Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince), Runaan/Tinker | Necklace Elf (The Dragon Prince)
Comments: 45
Kudos: 134





	1. Year 1: part 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've been cooking this in my head since september, then when i started to write different scenes, i saw the anouncement of season 3 and stopped. Just wanted to see the series and, even being an AU, I wanted to keep it close to Canon. Two things before you start:  
> English is not my first language, so any error you find comment it and i'll try to correct it.  
> I don't know what i'm doing in this story... so, yeah, welcome aboard to this random wandering ship, with is crazy captain.

“ _Long ago, Xadia was one land rich in magic and wonder, but when..._ ”

  
“But when a human wizard whose name, which for you or the other archdragons, elves, etc..., had no importance for being human, discovered dark magic to save his people from a famine. You decided that you would throw all humans to the lands west of the continent and you would create an infinite river of lava for border and containment and blah, blah, blah ... “

  
“ _Do they not teach you to respect your elders on the human side?_ ”

  
“Yes, it's just that I'm young and my patience is low, especially with a repetitive oldster who tries to ‘teach’ me outdated lessons.”

  
“ _So, should I stop talking for a while so you get used to your loneliness?_ ”

  
“.... No, please.”

  
The old man decided to continue his story, out of spite and upset the boy. Nor is it that he paid great attention, just want another voice apart from his and his thoughts.

  
It was the eighth month since he had settled there in the border; he heard the sizzle of lava and watched the river flow day and day as well. He had built a kind of tower / platform in the middle of the channel; In addition to a place with the basics to live, except a kitchen, at the temperatures that were, he cooked by simply taking the ingredients outside and putting a pan or pot on the floor.

  
He didn't have much to do, the books would burn just by being there for a few hours, there was no one else to chat with or throw a dice game ... except for the old man. His task was simple, to monitor the border until the end of his days.

  
“ _Boy, visits are coming._ ”

  
“From which side?”

  
“ _Xadia._ ”

  
“* Sigh * Let's get this over with quickly.”

  
With a quick movement of hands, he drew the activating rune, which caused a bridge to unfold from its 'watchtower' to the east bank.

  
He carried his sceptre and bow. He went down calmly; they were already waiting for him. With hundreds of soldiers from different backgrounds, the three elven generals looked at him with contempt and disdain. In response he simply smiled at them.

  
“ _The leader of the sunfire elves is not here. She must be recovering from her wounds._ ”

  
“She kept getting up and attacking me ... and I didn't want to kill her.”

  
He arrived in front of the three; on the left was a man of the tidebound elves; a woman in the centre, belonging to the earthblood elves; and the last was a young woman of the skywing elves. In their perfects and shining armours, their hands on the hilts of their weapons, or holding their bows or shields. He thought of the waste they would become when everything was over.

  
“Good afternoon, visitors. What brings you to my humble retreat?”

  
The earthblood elf stepped forward and exclaimed.

  
“You know very well, filthy creature. We want to do justice to the king, let us pass and we will forgive your miserable life.”

  
He shook his head, something that made them even more angry.

  
“The same old story, when you will learn that revenge will only lead to an endless cycle and finally to the destruction of the entire continent.” A mocking grin came across his face. “I will be young but from experience I can tell you that this is a path without return or satisfaction.”

  
He managed to enrage them at all, just what he wanted, people, blind with fury, tend to make mistakes.

  
“Attack!”

  
Just like that. He had no idea who had said it, and he really wasn't interested. He was already prepared beforehand, the runes of his sceptre shone as he channelled his magic.

  
“Lutum Viventem.” He struck the sceptre on the ground with a strong blow. The surrounding land stirred and dozens of rock and earth golems emerged. He didn’t have to command them, they automatically entered into battle formation, and protected him while he cast one spell after another.

  
The battle lasted a couple of hours until the elves began to withdraw, he even helped them carry the wounded. When the last of them had gone far enough, he arranged the place to return to its previous state and undid the golems. He turned and went back to his 'watchtower'.

  
“ _You are improving; each time you take less to push them back._ ”

  
“Will they ever stop coming back?”

  
“ _Do you want me to really answer that?_ ”

  
The boy fell silent; they already knew the answer to that.

  
He looked west, toward his true home, where his father, brother and friends were ... he began to feel again. 

  
When he thought of them, he evoked memories from another time, when he was still unaware of the world and his only concern was to eat more jelly tarts than his brother.

  
At that time, he was Callum, the son of the great general Sarai, his father had passed away a few years ago, he was too young to even understand him at that time. And the subsequent events were quick and dizzying; Thanks to his eidetic memory, he could easily remember, although he did not want to. Especially the night everything changed for him, hell, he could remember the whole damn year.

…………………………….7 years before……………………………

  
The Banther lodge was quiet, really quiet; Callum had just left the bed, he couldn’t sleep, too many things going on his head. First his mother tells him about her remarrying, with the king of Katolis, Harrow, nothing less; and a couple of months later, he was about to become the new heir’s older brother. Of course, he was happy, joy filled every part of his being, they were going to be a family, a bigger one. And the not-so discreet ill-comments of people calling him the ‘step-prince’, the adopted commoner, the peasant that lives in the castle because the king pitied him, etc... Didn’t really bother him, at least not as much as before.

  
His real problem was the strange crystal that he has found before, when they arrived at the lodge, wrapped and hidden inside one of the biggest books of the library. It was big, in a sky-blue tone, and from time to time it likes to buzz. The first thing he though was to show it to his parents, but, as soon he tried, the crystal disappeared and only materialized itself when no one except him were around. And tonight, it was glowing, and making noises, that now that he was listening carefully, it sounded like a voice, a feminine one. 

  
He approached to the mystic object, his heart beating fast. He was nervous, obviously, he had seen Claudia and Viren's magical demonstrations, he remembered the feeling of nausea and that he almost threw up later. It wasn’t the best impression of himself to the court. And now, an unidentified artefact was giving him the creeps, which isn’t a pleasant thing, also tomorrow he is supposed to go to fish with the king... not that they were going to catch a lot of fishes.  
Fed up with the damn thing, he decided it was best to get rid of it once and for all. He grabbed it and was ready to throw it as far as he could when the crystal broke in his hand. There was a flash of light and the next moment he found himself in a world of darkness.

  
“Hello, my chosen.” It was the same voice that he heard coming from the crystal. “I hope you are a human or elf free from the Archdragons' tyranny, and if you are Aaravos, or someone related to him, I'm not sorry for what I did; our dream was well on track, but you turned it into a nightmare. So, apart from what I did, I've taken the key; I'll try to destroy it later.”

  
Callum didn't know how to react, half of what the voice said was unknown to him, and being floating in the middle of the absolute nowhere didn't help either. He waited patiently to see what new story, or event, the voice would produce, not that he could do something else.

  
“This message was recorded in case you didn't make any form of magic or try to escape, which means you're a human or a really cautious mage. In any case it means you're curious about what I have to offer you.

  
I'll be brief, you would become my apprentice; I'll transmit all the knowledge that I have to you. In return, I only need one thing from you...never use what I'll teach you, to harm others beings for no reason.

  
Now, to start your lessons, we need several things. First and foremost, a big blank book, the biggest you can find, the better, we need a way to communicate. The second and needed for you, my crystal needs to repair itself, you must look for a source of magic, anything but dark magic, if you are lucky you'll find a primal stone still hidden in the room where you found my crystal, if not, your best alternative is to keep yourself away from dark magic and wait until it's repaired by normal means.  
The last, and probably a personal relief, you need to find this object." Suddenly, a strange dice appeared in front of him; instead of dots, it has different symbols on each side. "It´s the key that I’ve mentioned before, if you find it, keep it safe and far from any human or elf, at any cost. We'll use it later.”

  
As soon as she finished speaking, Callum was again in his room, tended in the floor face up and soaked in sweat. Rays of light entering by the window, it was morning, which means that he was late to go fishing with his step-father.

  
………………………………………………………………………………………….

  
He ran to the spot. As a five-year-old kid, you wouldn't expect him going out in a spring morning without wearing a warm coat, boots, gloves and a wool cap; all given by the man before him, King Harrow of Katolis.

  
“You've taken your time.” He chuckled. “I'm glad that you came, I was about to think you preferred the warm and dry lodge.”

  
Callum simply nodded, there was still a thin invisible barrier between them. For him, Harrow was his father, no matter what other said, he makes her mother happy and has given him a brother, and treated him like his own son. But for some reason that separation exists.

  
There weren't servants with them, a rule the king put, something about the need to fend for themselves, just the usual guards that always accompany them. Callum spotted two of them near bridge, and the others were around the place patrolling.

  
“Don't mind them.”Harrow said . “They are here to protect us, and you and me, we are here to see what we catch.” He took two fishing rods and passed him one. The boy smiled.

  
After a brief lesson to cover the basics, they were fishing all morning and noon, with the occasional event, as Callum is almost dragged to the bottom of the river. In the end, they managed to capture three jumping pikes and an immodest perch (that’s the fish name).

  
He was happy, last night events were in the back of his mind, at least until he entered the game room. There he found it, the estrange dice/cube, when he takes it the warning from the crystal's voice echoed in his ears. 'Keep it safe and far from any human or elf, at any cost.'

  
He wasn't sure what it was, the voice said it was a key, for what?

  
Callum went to the king with the question, all he gets was that an ancestor takes it from Xadia during the human exile and that it was supposed to open something there. Harrow let out a big laugh, saying that it was just an old legend, and the cube was probably an ancient elven toy. So, when Callum asked if he can keep it, his parents said 'yes' and 'don't lose it'.

  
With the realization that he has fulfilled one of the crystal's tasks, he proceeded to go to the library, wanted to look for any of those 'primal ball' to complete the second.

  
He looked into every shelf, inside the books, in every corner and a hole that he found... nothing. Probably if those things were magical, someone from the king's family has taken them long ago; he'd have to wait for the crystal to repair itself.

  
Taking advantage that he was there; he took one of the unused blank books and carried it to his room. Now... he didn't know what to do. So, he went to dinner and then sleep, hoping that a new clue would appear the next day.

  
But it didn't, neither the next one, or the next after that one. Even after the come back to the castle, there was no response. He kept himself busy with his drawings, playing with Claudia, training with Soren, taking care of Ezran... although he always ended thinking about the crystal.

  
And to add more things to worry about, a recent visit by Duren's queens had made everyone nervous in the court. He heard whispers from the guards and the servants, 'grim times come ahead', the most repeated phrase. Then one day, the soldiers gathered in front of the main gates, leading they were his parents, Viren, and the queens of Duren. Rumours said that they found a solution to a hard problem.

  
He, as many others, waited for good news... they never came... Weeks later, his father returned with the lifeless body of his mother.

  
Callum didn’t know how to process all that. Every citizen of the kingdom mourned the loss of their beloved queen while singing her praises for saving thousands of lives. He was next to Harrow, sobbing, head down, without looking the pyre. Opeli was presiding the ceremony, nobles, peasants, ... everyone came to offer their condolences.

  
Once the funeral was over, he went to his room and hid under the covers of his bed, still hoping for everything to be a bad dream and for his mother to come to wake him.

  
“Callum...” He recognized his step-father's voice. “I... have no excuse and even if I have one, I wouldn't use it, I was supposed to take care of her, for you, for Ezran... me. I don't deserve your forgiveness, and I’ll understand if you end up hating me. I just want you to know that I'll be here when you need me”

  
Callum got out of bed abruptly, he ran to hug Harrow, something that both needed.

  
………………………………………………………………………………………….

  
More calmed, the young prince was in the last place he thought he would be, in front of the door of Viren's studio. Fortunately, he knew that the royal mage wasn't there, he, Callum, was looking for Claudia, if anyone knows where to find a 'primal ball', it was her.

  
“Hey Callum! What brings you here?” The voice of the sorceress came from behind him.

  
He, after making sure that there was not any trace of tears in his cheeks, faced her with a friendly expression.

  
“Hey 'Clauds', I need a favour from you.”

  
“Oh! Err... I...”

  
“Don't worry its nothing too complicated, I swear.”

  
“Ok, I just have to warn you that Dad told me not to make promises about resurrections, or to teach you dark magic.”

  
'Yeah, I imagined something like that.' He made a great effort to not roll his eyes, how many times had he declared his disgust for their arts? “I'm here for another thing.”

  
He proceeded to explain what he needed, of course he let out of the conversation anything related to the crystal or the mysterious voice.

  
“So, you need a 'primal STONE', *murmurs* not ball *murmurs*, and for how long?”

  
“A couple of weeks?” He didn't know how long it would take to repair the crystal.

  
“You sure? Ok, I think we have one in… oneoftheplacesIcan’ttoldyouaboutit.” Before he could say something, the raven-haired girl ran to wherever she should go.

  
‘Well, I guess that solves my first problem, now to the second one.’ He needed a way to avoid getting too much attention. If a weak boy like him suddenly began to show signs of improvement and acquired impossible skills, people would begin to suspect that he was keeping a valuable magical artefact, which was true.

  
He went to the library, specifically to the shelf of the history books, took one in which the customs and traditions of the pentarchy were cited. Pretty heavy for the thousand years since they separated from the elves. As he turned the pages, he found a term he had once heard from his mother, in an argument with the king and his aunt. The pathfinder route, despite the redundancy. It was an age rite followed by the children of the monarchs and the nobles of each kingdom. They had to travel from their home through each of the capitals of each kingdom and finally return, during the course of it they would have to visit the places where the ancient humans settled after the exile, in addition to learning the cultures of these kingdoms.  
Technically, he still needed four more years to be able to say that he wanted to do it, but with everything that was going on, his father might say yes.

  
………………………………………………………………………………………….

  
“No, I refuse.” Harrow crossed his arms.

  
Or maybe not.

  
“But mom, Aunt Amaya, and you said that in a few years ...”

  
“Exactly, in a few years, when you were older and could defend yourself!” Harrow gestured to tell the others in the room to leave, except for Opeli and Viren. “I don't need to remind you why it's not a good time for it; it's not just that you're young for the trip, you also need knowledge of etiquette and bringing gifts to the other monarchs.”

  
“I thought it was a simple trip ...” Callum felt confused.

  
“Somehow it still is.” Viren spoke. “However, with each generation it became apparent that was also a good way to strengthen political ties of each house and kingdom.” Seeing Callum’s face of 'I don't understand what you mean', Viren shook his head. “The nobles who make the pilgrimage give gifts to make more friends.”

  
“Oh! I didn't know.”

  
“Obviously, until recently you didn't belong to ... ouch!” Viren was interrupted by Opeli, who gave him a not-so-discreet blow to the side.

  
“Prince Callum, what Viren and your father mean is that you need to meet some requirements before you can embark on this adventure.” She looked at the king for approval for what she was going to say next; Harrow seemed to think about it seriously and then nodded. Opeli continued. “Me and the other council members will take care of it.”

  
“* Sigh * I guess that includes me.” Viren, who was still sore, went to the table and wrote something that he then handed over to Callum. “Look for these books, tomorrow after the bells of dawn in the library we will begin your lessons.” He turned to Opeli. “I'll take care of economics and geography, if that's okay with you.”

  
“And biology too, there are issues that only you or his father should explain.” She had also written something on a piece of parchment and handed it to him. “I will teach you etiquette, politics and rhetoric, I hope you are prepared for it. We will begin the day after Viren's teachings and so every two days.” After thinking for a moment, she added. "We should also look for a combat instructor in the afternoon."

  
“I planned to include him in the soldiers’ training.” Harrow said. “Amaya's new recruits arrived this morning.”

  
“Then it's settled, as soon as you finish your lessons with us, you must go to the yard and get ready to go with the recruits.” Lord Viren left the room.

  
Callum thought that perhaps with this, in addition to what he could learn from the crystal, he would become someone with enough strength to protect his family, how hard could the training be?

  
………………………………………………………………………………………….

  
He never got to say it out loud, but he regretted greatly even thinking about it. He had been with his new routine for four months; every day was a real torture. In the morning, very early, he had to prepare for four strenuous hours in which Lord Viren or Lady Opeli dictated and taught the agreed topics. In the afternoon, Gren taught him the use of the sword and the bow, although more focused on the latter; after giving himself with the practice sword several times and throwing it unintentionally at Lord Viren, according to him, they stopped trying. He still had time, at the end, to attend to Ezran and play with him; then at night after dinner he drew in his sketchbook.

  
Claudia did not appear during that time, so she never got to know if she found a primal stone, however one morning he noticed a blue glow next to his things, a fragment of that devilish artifact was glued to his book. He watched him every day, grew slowly, which renewed his hopes.

  
One day, when he was leaving his father's studio, after a session with Opeli, he saw a blurred black figure pouncing on him and making him fall with his back to the ground.

  
“Callum! I finally find you!” After focusing a little bio that was Claudia. "Get up, come with me I think I've found what you need!"

  
Without even waiting for his answer, he took her hand and dragged himself almost through the castle until he reached the door leading to the dungeons.

  
She was smiling, proud of something he had not yet reached. She took one of the torches, or rather pretended to take it and simply turned it a little to the right.

  
An opening was made in the adjoining wall. Callum was surprised that nobody came because of the noise, or that they knew about the existence of that place.

  
“It's because it's a secret that my father doesn't even know, it doesn't come in any of the plans of the castle."

  
“Do you read minds now?”

  
“Nope, but expressions yes, you were dumbfounded and confused ... and you drooling.”

  
He quickly closed his mouth and cleaned himself with the sleeve of his jacket, which made her chuckle.

  
“This is supposedly access to the castle vaults, created by one of the kings of the past.” Claudia took a notebook from her bag. "According to what I found; they date from the time this was Xadia's territory.” That really interested him.

  
“Well? What's in there?”

  
She looked at him with the utmost seriousness.

  
“...I have no idea.”

  
“...”

  
“...”

  
“Seriously?”

  
“Completely.” She sighed. “Look, it's not that I didn't want to know, but the warnings and the bad vibes it gives me from here, tell me not to enter or something bad will happen to me. If you want to find a primal stone you need to look there, some text talks about ancient artifacts that were kept inside for storage.”

  
“Warnings?”

  
“Yes, no matter what book or old stone slab you read, they all said the same thing at the end: ‘Those who dare to enter should prepare themselves not to return from beyond.’ It may seem paranoia, but when the same thing is repeated in different archaic contents it is usually true or were written by the same person.” 

  
Callum was still waiting for the girl to turn her face in mockery and tell her it was a joke, at any moment. It did not happen.

  
He looked into the darkness of the hall in front of him, it would be stupid of him to explore an unknown place ... unprepared. He thanked Claudia for the information, and, after promising several times that he would not risk entering such a place, they separated and he headed for his training.

  
Later, when most of the castle slept, he took what he thought was necessary and headed towards the place. Along the way he found no guards, something strange, because since the death of his mother, they had doubled the guard.  
He even thought that Claudia would be standing waiting in front of the passage.

  
Nothing.

  
He moved the torch as he had seen before and the wall moved, same noise, same darkness. He lit a flashlight he had brought, saying that he was afraid was little, trembling from head to toe, and not from cold. He squeezed the scarf on his neck with his hand, seeking courage to take the first step. The memory of his mother came to mind, closed his eyes and advanced forward. The place was quiet, neither shadow nor vermin moved, the wall closed slowly, and everything was the same as if nothing had ever happened.


	2. Year 1: Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well hello again friends  
> here I am, delivering a chapter  
> read it at your own pace,  
> neither slow nor faster.  
> I'll leave with grace  
> and will see you again  
> ladies and gentlemen  
> at the notes in the end. 😂  
> (I know I'm horrible as a poet (and sometimes as a writer))

Callum was walking through the meadow of adoraburrs, the little creatures jumped for joy at seeing him. Of course, no one of them could really touch him, when they reached him, they passed through him like a ghost, they were confused for a moment and then tried again.

“Ha ha ha ... I'm sorry little ones, but I'm not palpable, I'll come back another day to play with you.”

_“You should focus better on exercising a little more, managing your body is becoming complicated.”_

"Well, I spend most of my time sitting on a rock watching that nobody passes the border. It is not that I have much time for it and there is almost no place to run or exercise.”

_“Humph, excuses …"_

He shook his head casually, tried to keep his mind from what the old one was doing, although he still heard the screams and blows coming from the other side.

His astral body began to flicker, a sign that he was losing control. He took a breath and exhaled several times, even though he knew he didn't need air. After recovering his form, without flickering, he continued on his way. He came to the beginning of a tangle of roots and branches, he knew that from that point was the territory of the moonshadow elves, protected by a powerful spell. He saw in the distance how Lunsang, the dragon of the moon and protector of the place, flew in circles. He was obviously looking for him, he couldn't see, hear or smell him, but he felt the fluctuations in the Arcanum he created with each step. Also, although it was not very strong, the creatures of the moon Arcanum have a connection with the beyond and the astral plane.

“I promise we won't be out for a long time.”

“You said that last time”

Callum turned around and saw whose voice it was. She was a girl about her age a moonshadow elf; pale pink skin, two horns that followed the same direction of her silver hair, backwards; violet eyes, athletic complexion, although it seems that she was suffering the changes of age and developing curves ... not that he has been watching a lot. She was accompanied by a man older than her, he assumed she was her father, or failing that, her uncle.

“ _You are acting like a creep again._ ”

“Don't you have soldiers to torment?”

“ _I'm done, I came to tell you about it, but I see you busy drooling._ ”

“I don't drool.”

He felt the earth tremble, apparently the old lizard had decided to land to continue his search.

“Great Lunsang, what brings you here today?” The man asked.

They had reached where he was.

“I'm patrolling the territory; I think I've felt something recently.” The dragon's voice was a little more than that of the other dragons, not enough to be of a female.

“Should we turn around and return to the grove? There is danger?” she asked worried.

“No, not really, it will be some creature of the arcane star that will be passing through. You can leave without problem.”

Relieved the two marched where Callum had come, on the way the girl stopped to play with the small creatures, until the man dragged her with him.

“I know you're there, human, I kindly ask you to show yourself.”

Callum, after making sure that only the two are there, made a gesture and became visible to the dragon.

“How did you know?”

Lunsang chuckled as he lay down.

“If It had been a little animal, it would have fled after the first time I felt it. Only sentient beings return to a place even if they know it is dangerous.”

“You don't seem very angry at my presence.

“And even if I was, I couldn't do anything to you. I have seen what you did with other archdragons, I don’t feel like receiving a beating. We have also become very arrogant; it is good for someone to remind us that we are not invincible.”

“I didn’t do it for that purpose.”

“But it is the one that some of us have interpreted.” Lunsang closed his eyes. “I remember when humans were expelled from here, I also remember what happened two hundred years later. Many wizards and elven leaders disagreed with us on small matters. Without you around here we had no one to blame for our problems, and we were forced to solve them, many with violence.”

“And then centuries later, the human incursions began and to top it off I arrived.”

“Ha, ha, ha ... Right, when we detected humans at the border it was like stir a hornet's nest. Everyone was almost delighted to have something else to focus on.” He paused shortly. “And as you said you came, which has really created a division between ours. A human carrying the power of the Arcanum, of more than one and with the ability to face us practically alone.”

“Again, not for that purpose. I wanted to avoid more pointless fights, now I find everyone fighting against me.”

“It is the price of establishing a peace by force. If it's any consolation, I'm glad you did, the conversations and discussions have been quite lively since then.”

Human and dragon maintained a respectful silence between them, Callum focused on the song of the birds and the sound of the wind. He had not relaxed for a long time, since he arrived at the border, his day-to-day focus was on watching, training, fighting, eating, sleeping little ... nothing appetizing.

He imagined himself in the castle gardens, playing with Ezran and bait, Claudia in a corner reading some of his books and Soren making fun of him.

“You look a lot like them.”

The boy was startled at the comment.

“To who?”

The dragon extended his neck and brought his face close to the young man.

“To the ancient human mages.”

He levitated to the height of the other, it was a somewhat peculiar scene, because the truth is not that he was too tall for his age and the Archdragon was not small either.

“What were they like?”

“In a word, dreamers.” Lunsang scoffed. “The greatest dreamers; they believed that if they followed our teachings they would be the same as the elves and would stop living in misery. Many others took advantage of them for that ... and that led to what happened.” He looked away. “Maybe if we had treated them better, things would not be like now.”

“Maybe.” Callum looked up, from the position of the sun he knew he should return. “We cannot change the past, maybe one day in the future there will be an opportunity for reconciliation.”

“I sincerely hope so, maybe it will be a human as fearless as you who lead us to that moment.”

“You flatter me, but I doubt it, I think that is in the hands of another. For today I say goodbye, I promise not to sneak next time.”

The boy gave him a bow as he vanished.

………………………………………………………………………………………….

Callum opened his eyes, lay on his bed, or what he called bed. The oldster had left him in an acceptable place, this time. He sat up and went outside, there was no sign of struggle or any rest, which was fine, and that made him suspicious. He drew a circle in the air and the solar rune appeared.

“Verium aperiat.”

What was expected was displayed before him; part of the 'watchtower was half demolished, there were fragments of weapons and armour all over the floor, arrows stuck in the walls of his home. On the shore of the human side, the earth was removed, craters and cracks everywhere, burn marks ...

“You damn sack of ... Son of a ....” Callum's blood was boiling.

“ _You called me?_ ”

“I ONLY HAVE ONE RULE IF YOU TAKE MY BODY, LEAVE EVERYTHING AS IT WAS.”

“ _And that I did; I left everything just as the humans left it when they ran with the tail between their legs ... I had high hopes in that bravery so well-known of Del Bar'_ _s soldiers_ _. They did not last me even for the appetizer._ ”

The boy was shooting daggers at him, of course, he really couldn't. The connection with the old man was only psychic, he had never brought him from beyond. After calming down he prepared to clean up that mess.

When he went to collect several pieces of weapons, he found something familiar. Among the rubble, almost hidden, he found the piece of a horn, that of a dreaming ram, a creature of the astral plane.

“ _It seems that your mage friend doesn’t give up._ ”

“I don't think it was Viren, or Claudia, it's a very valuable resource to waste it on me.”

That object served to do many rituals, even in primal magic. The first time he saw one, although he did not know what it was, was when he accessed the vaults, the first times…

……………………………. Back with kid Callum ……………………………

He listened to the sound of his footsteps, the crackling of the flame in the lantern ... his altered breathing from the mixture of fear and nervousness.

He had been walking for a while, there was no way of knowing what time it was outside. His only company, the darkness that surrounded him. For a while he thought he was on an endless road, one of those that appeared in the stories, a magical trap for the unworthy. Luckily, and to his joy, he found some stairs right at the end of the hall. The descent was long, he didn't know where they were leading, and he hoped it was worth the effort.

He came to a metal door, shone in that place, there was no trace of rust, or marks that had been opened in a long time. Without a doorknob, or a lock, just some plates on which words of other times were engraved. There was a version with human language and another that he didn’t understand.

**In case the last hope is lost, and the fallen star wants to ascend, take this here, run and then fight.**

“Aggh! More texts with meanings that I don't understand.” Callum let out an exasperated sigh. “At least they could say how to open this thing.”

As if the door had been listening to him, new words appeared.

**Entrance, here, there is not. You must get lost to find what you want.**

‘Get lost... No entrance…’ He thought for a while, and an idea came to mind

He opened the lantern, and extinguished the flame inside. The darkness that, until then, kept a distance, pounced on him. He would lie if someone asked him if he wasn't terrified. There was no sound but the one that made his heart, which was beating fast. He tightened his scarf with all his might.

Relying on his instinct, he began to walk towards the shiny piece of metal that stood between him and whatever was behind. It took all his effort not to blink when he was a few inches, he prepared for the blow… which never came. As if it had never been there, he went through it.

He didn't expect it, nor what he found. A complex, or rather similar, that extended to the end of the room. Callum was on a platform, with small stairs to the side. From there he observed that there were rooms open from above, revealing its contents, others were covered by a stone or glass dome. Then he looked at the ceiling and saw a tangle of bright lines that constantly changed course, shape and length; in more detail, he observed that they were runes like those at the door, or the artefacts of Viren's studio. He deduced that they would serve to illuminate the place, since he did not need the lantern, among other things.

He went down carefully, he found a wall with signs and indications to reach the different instances.

**Alchemy room, do not forget to close the door to preserve the ingredients.**

**Materials and forging room, do not leave it on.**

**File room, prohibited to take them out and not return them.**

**Treasure room, everything that is taken must be recorded.**

**Training room, clean after use.**

Those were the main ones, apparently there were others, but his interest was that of the treasure. If the information he had about the primal balls was true, they were an extremely valuable object, and they would surely be stored there.

He headed without delay, despite the labyrinthine place, up there. It was one of the rooms covered by a stone dome, at least if it had a clear entrance, but the locks were something never seen by him, they looked like a drawing to complete, an unsolved puzzle. Just as he was about to touch it, he felt as if something was burning in his chest, and it was true.

The crystal fragment, which he had brought with him and had in the inside pocket of his jacket, was extremely hot. He quickly took it out, burning his fingers in the process. He dropped it to the ground, where it remained shining with increasing intensity. He watched scared as it grew back to his original size; threads of light shot toward him, he had no time to react, luckily the threads went to his backpack and stole the blank book from inside. The threads wrapped the cover of the same, as if it were metal melting, a hole was made and the crystal fit into it. In a moment, both objects had merged into one.

Then the book itself opened on the first page, letters appeared, words were created, a sentence was formed.

**Ready for your first lesson?**

Poor Callum stood there trembling, everything had happened too fast and he was still processing it. The consciousness in the crystal did not seem to care much about his state; with the same process the words on the page were replaced by others.

**Before we start, it seems that you have somehow found one of our shelters. I can feel the magic traces of several of my colleagues. This will help to make your training faster. Well, ready?**

‘Come on, you can, you got here.’ He thought.

He approached the book and picked it up, and said simply. “Yes.” The words changed again.

**Well, to start, you’ll need to forge an Arcanum. But exposing yourself to one can have unexpected consequences ... Go to the training room, there must be one, and sit on one of the strange looking cushions ... choose the one you like best.**

He did not delay even a second, and went there. Unlike the other rooms he had been through, he found it open, it was huge. There were dummies like those in the field of the castle barracks, targets that were attached to a mechanism, and in a dedicated corner, the coloured cushions, stacked against the wall.

He approached them, after observing them, he took a black one with white dots, strangely clean for the possible time they had been there. The person in the crystal kept communicating, told him to place himself in the centre of a circle on the floor with it. Sitting cross-legged, the book in front on the floor, closed, the backpack, lantern and other equipment on one side.

From the crystal on the cover began to emerge the voice he heard the first time, it sang a melody in a strange language, the circle began to shine and the symbols on it to move in patterns.

As the song progressed, Callum began to feel strange, lighter, his mind calm. A beam was projected from the book, and a figure formed inside.

In Viren's class he had seen elves, or reliable drawings of them, but the woman who appeared in front of him did not look alike.

She had the features of one; the pointed ears, the pair of horns, although short. However, she had five fingers and no marks on her skin, in fact she resembled the king's sister, who did not have, for her tanned skin, her braided brown hair, beautiful pouty lips and nose. Her honey-coloured eyes conveyed a mixture of kindness and ... surprise?

“You are… very young.” She spoke, her voice was sweet.

The poor boy, didn’t know well what to do or respond.

She waved her hand in front of his face, looking for an answer. “Are you okay? Is something wrong with you?”

She moved around him, when Callum replied the first thing he said was. “Are you an elf?”

She smiled. “No, I am a Halfling.”

“A what?” First time he heard that.

“Oh, I don't know how old you will be, but when a daddy or mommy elf and a human love each other very much ...”

Callum reflexively covered his ears and began to hum, that made her smile. He perfectly recounted Viren's lesson, which he gave with his father's help, which he had tried to erase from his mind as quickly as he could.

“I am basically the result of a very pure love, okay. No doubt it must have been a long time for people like me to remain. Tell me, what year is it?”

He proceeded to tell him everything he could about the world, everything he knew. She listened attentively, and reacted horribly when she learned about the border and the separation with Xadia. Callum gave her space, she was thoughtful.

“This must have been his work.”

“Whose?”

“Someone very dangerous. Listen, if you ever have the bad luck of meeting him ... no, no, no.” She stopped talking suddenly; She breathed slowly. “You are not ready yet. First we must start with the basics.” She looked at the cushion in which he was. “Although perhaps not so much, what led you to catch that one? She pointed at the object.”

“I don't know, I liked it when I saw it.”

“* Sigh * It's fine.” She made a gesture with her hand, several symbols appeared in the air, similar to those of the ‘key’ she mentioned long ago. “These are the six primary sources; the sun, the moon, the stars, the sky, the earth and the ocean. Connected to each other, in perfect balance, as everything should.

Wizards, and some creatures, can use their connection with them to perform what we call magic. We know that connection as Arcanum, it's like the secret or meaning of the primal.” Then she looked at him sadly. “Unfortunately, humans are born without that connection.”

“But I have seen other humans do magic.”

“I doubt it.” She sat down while levitating. “What you call magic is an abomination created by the desire and greed of a monster. Humans who really did magic in my time, used primal balls ...” She recreated one with her power. “... or forged an Arcanum with one of the six primal. What I intend you to do. I don't know your situation, but, if you can, I need you to come here once a month at least and use this place to meditate on it.” And he pointed again at the cushion. “And don't change it.”

“What is important about this?”

“Many things, it is woven with a very rare and useful material, if necessary take it with you and sleep with it. Do not worry if you have strange dreams."

Her appearance began to flicker.

“It seems that my time is running out, too much for the first time. Remember, come once a month at least, we will keep in touch with the book. Oh! and wash it dry.”

“Wait, I don't know your name.”

She gave him a warm smile. “Adeena, that's my name, write yours next time.” And disappeared.

Callum seemed to wake up from a dream, if not because he was still in that magical place. He got up and went to the exit, carrying everything with him, including his new acquisition. He repeated the entire process, although he is almost in a dilemma when he found the wall closed. Luckily he saw the chain on one side and pulled it.

Dawn was near, he saw it when he reached the upper floors of the castle, and it meant that his lessons were going to start in a few hours. He crawled to the library, where Opeli would be waiting for him, after leaving his things in his room.

He had learned a terrible trick to get rid of his classes, especially with her, Viren was too strict. He should only stay in the library with a book, of which she had recommended him, open and fall asleep, or appear to be, before she arrived; she would kindly wake him up and tell him to go to his room to sleep.

Of course, if he did it often, it wouldn't work, so he used it once every three to four weeks, when he was really tired.

It worked.

When she saw him leave the library, he heard her say. “I must tell the others that we should give him a few days off.”

Once he was in his room, he took a charcoal and began drawing in his sketchbook, he wanted to remind Adeena of the best she could, and the things he had seen last night. If only he knew what would end up triggering all that ...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, what a trip, for my next fic I will remember not to write it in parts, and make it continuous.  
> I hope you liked it.  
> This fandom is great, you have probably read a lot of wonderful works around here, but let me recommend you visit these two amazing artists: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spontaneite/pseuds/spontaneite/works?fandom_id=24910221  
> https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Eternal_Winter/pseuds/The_Eternal_Winter  
> Together with the series, these works gave me the last push to start this.  
> As always, tell me any errors you find.  
> See you in the next chap.


	3. Year 1: Part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have I ever mentioned who my favorite character is? Or what is my favorite dragon prince ship? You have three attempts ... nah I'm kidding. Enjoy the chapter, and I will try to write better and faster.

Callum almost crashed into the rock.

“ _Focus on the task at hand! You are thinking about something and that is distracting you._ ”

“For real? What makes you think that?”

“ _Oh! I don't know, maybe because it's the third time you try to kill us?_ ”

They ... HE was flying around the border, looking for any intruder or army that tried to pass without his permission, not that he was going to give it. Of course, there was no better way to do that task than to fly the entire course of the lava river, from north to south. For this, he had learned a spell that only the most gifted among the mages of the Sky Arcanum came to dominate, one that allowed to grow wings of his arms, itched a little at first.

Needless to say, like a chick, he still needed to learn how to fly, and the old man, who had experience in it, had been helping him, too bad he was a terrible teacher.

“I was trying to decide if you are real, or a product of my guilty conscience in an attempt to preserve the little sanity I have left.”

“ _WHAT!_ ” The old man sounded really offended. “ _FOR YOUR INFORMATION I AM REAL, AND IT IS A GREAT LACK OF RESPECT FOR A ..._ ”

“Ok, ok ... sorry.” The boy quickly apologized. “I wanted to annoy you and now that I have succeeded, I see that it is not so much fun.”

“ _Humph!_ ”

For a month there had been no incidents, of any kind. It was as if the elves and humans had reached a silent agreement not to disturb him. In other circumstances he would feel grateful and let them be, but he knew that both sides were gathering strength to break his blockade ... surely.

Callum had countermeasures for almost any event, including an attack on both sides, however that would be the last resort.

He reached the last destination of his patrol, the breach. Now it was nothing more than a cascade of molten rock with a huge crater in the centre, where the substance accumulated. It was his work, the day he was assigned to protect the border, his first act was to destroy it, along with the methods that the elves used.

He was not proud, but it was that, or having to be there shooing more humans than he should.

Since the great event, whose news of it spread like a wildfire, the other kingdoms became greedy and many ‘adventurers’ decided that they wanted to ‘claim’ Xadia for humans. And on the other hand the elves wanted revenge, and Callum was right in their way.

Considering what his real crime was, and that, honestly, he made it with all the intention, it could be worse. He had no complaint of his punishment, except, perhaps the lack of real company.

“ _You still think I'm not real._ ”

“Not at all.”

“ _Well, this imaginary being has detected a detachment of soldiers on the side of Xadia, heading towards the rockiest area of the border. It seems they want to avoid you_.”

Callum wasted no time, he hurried to the place. He didn't need to get too close, before even locating them he had to dodge a rain of arrows. When he went to land, he discovered that several soldiers were waiting for him, weapons ready and spears pointed at him. He had to fly again and avoid another set of arrows.

He tried a different approach, using his wings, and the little time he had left, rose as much as he could, invoked his sceptre mid-flight. A series of runes engraved on the handle shone in sequence, plummeted at the soldiers, they were put back in formation, spears at the ready. A shield of air and dust formed on the tip of his sceptre; He heard a familiar voice, which yelled at the elves to disperse quickly, he would not give them that opportunity, he used a spell to accelerate his fall. When he made contact with the ground, all the accumulated power was released. An earthquake was released, with him as an epicentre, which caused the others to become unbalanced. Fragments of rock shot into large pieces towards the elves, hitting everyone equally. Lumps of land rose strongly, from the point of his fall, and forced them to retreat.

The damage was already done, only half of them remained standing. In front, Callum saw someone familiar, Janai, the leader of the sunfire elves, she was helping one of his own get up. She glared at him.

“You are breaking the rules, MY RULES.” Callum said. “Leave. Now.”

Janai said nothing, she simply activated her power; as if there were magma under her skin, which change to a darker shade and red hot cracks covered her.

“ _As CHARming as ever_ ”

“Seriously? Are you making puns right now?”

“ _And when did you expect me to make them?_ ”

He didn't answer that, he had to deal with an urgent matter. Janai pounced over him, behind her, sunfire knights followed her and the others readied their bows. He was technically trapped; lava river behind him, an army of angry elves, with the world angriest elf maiden leading them... just as planned.

He leaped back and made the sceptre runes shine again; the molten rock surged as a geyser, cooling in the process, making a platform for he to land. It was not the only one to appear, other obsidian rocks formed in a few seconds, enough to block all the arrows that were fired at him while he was moving.

He has taken them by surprise, and lesson number one to battle is don't get distracted, never; or the archmage you are fighting will take the opportunity to summon a dozen golems to fight you, which is wat Callum did.

In other circumstances, he would have thought that the elven forces were poor trained, but he knew the stories about him. It was still pleasant the feel to see their faces when he does primal magic.

While the greenhorns were dazed, Janai went to him, sword unsheathed, ready to strike him down. He knew that his feeble protection was nothing against a weapon that could melt star-steel metal.

He dodged it as fast as he could. You could tell that she had an advantage in experience, especially in close combat and against mages. Each slash was directed towards his hands or towards the runes he was trying to form. Blocked each cut and lunge, the elf gave no respite, in the end he resorted to a kick in her side. It didn't work much and made her angry even more. The pause was enough to form a quick spell; Callum threw himself at her and knocked her down, both of them fell towards the lava.

Upon seeing their Leader / Captain lose, the others began to withdraw, took the wounded with them; some approached the edge, looking for something to tell them that she was still alive, nothing.

Callum stood up and showed in front of them, gave them a look that froze their blood, they left in fear of the human.

“ _Pathetic ... in this have brave sunfire elves become?_ ”

“Don't be too hard on them, they just lost someone dear.”

Once he made sure they were gone, the boy fixed the mess made, with the exception that this time he had another problem to fix. From the depths of the river, a gigantic volcanic rock emerged, gave a dry blow to the top and the rock broke in two. From inside fell the knight Janai, she was bound hand and foot with more obsidian, she was still in her berserk mode, and struggled against her bonds.

“Look.” Callum started. “I don't like this either, so I'm going to let you go as soon as you answer some questions. The boy looked west. It's getting late and I don't think you're going to stop moving, so ... I'm sorry.”

Another rune shone on his scepter, and he touched her gently with it.

“Dormite.”

The effect was immediate, Janai fell unconscious on the floor, her skin cooled. Callum carried her to the watchtower.

“ _And now what, real human?_ ”

“You're not going to let it go, right?”

“ _No._ ”

“I don't know either, I want her to answer something, nothing more. But I don't know how to deal with it.”

“ _Luckily for you, I do ... I called your aunt._ ”

“What!?”

It was true, when he arrived, he saw a bunch of Katolian troops, in front were Gren, the faithful soldier and interpreter, and Amaya, general of the kingdom and his maternal aunt. She didn't seem happy.

“ _Not bad for an imaginary being, right?_ ”

“Ok, I get it, you're real. Happy now.”

He recreated the bridge for Amaya and Gren to climb, while putting the knight inside his home. He was thinking about what to tell them, and how to get rid of the possible scolding.

He went to meet them, before he could say anything, his aunt hugged him tightly, this lasted for a few minutes until he released him.

“I thought something had happened to you _._ ” She told him.

Callum was confused.

“What did you tell them, exactly?”

“ _Oh! You know, something normal, I have encountered a problem and I don't know if I will get out of it, I bring someone prisoner._ ”

“THAT DOES NOT HAVE ANYTHING OF NORMAL.”

“ _But it is the truth_.”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

After a more detailed explanation, they were inside the house. Janai was already awake, looking hatefully at the three humans, Gren was nervously drinking her tea, made by Callum, and Amaya was arms folded, returning the elf's gaze, had not touched her cup.

“I will free your hands, please do not attack anyone, I will return you your sword later. Callum told Janai.”

He heard his aunt hit Gren, a sign that he wanted me to translate.

“I still think it's a bad idea.” He translated.

“And I already said that this is the right thing. Trust me.” He hit the bonds.

The rock that surrounded her hands broke into pieces. Surprisingly she did nothing, stared at them for a moment and took the cup offered by Gren, and even drank without fear. It made them feel a little more relaxed.

“Ask.” She told him.

“Huh?”

“You said you had to ask me something, so ask.”

“It will sound strange to you, but I thought I would have to convince you.”

“I am in enemy territory, outnumbered and unarmed, it would be stupid to fight.”

“ _A military leader must think first, act later_.” The old man and his aunt said in strangely sync.

“Alright.” Callum sat down and became serious. “Why do the attacks continue? I would understand if you were a few elves trying to cross to the human side to explore or seek revenge against my father. However, since I am here you have sent one army after another.”

Since arriving, the elf's face had been one of disgust and hatred, but instead, she was confused.

“You don’t know?” She asked. “I thought that's why you fought us.”

“My duty is to secure the border, it is a punishment of the pentarchy and a promise I made ... to a friend.”

She closed her eyes and sipped more tea.

“The kings of Lux Aurea, Glaciers Aeternam, Argentum Montem and Queen Flubeia have ordered your immediate capture. I don't know what they want, but they were very specific that they wanted you alive.”

That did not surprise him, in several previous encounters with the elves, he was left unprotected for a moment and had seen his adversaries divert the trajectory of the coup or lower the weapon. It hurt his pride, so many years of training...

“Do not belittle yourself, you are a formidable rival.” Janai comforted him. “You lack experience and you should stop being so naive, nothing more.”

“Let me guess.” Amaya had a mischievous smile. “He continues to finish his battles without killing and helping the wounded.”

“It is a summary, but yes.”

Both chuckled. they began to exchange stories of their experiences with him, quite embarrassing. Gren, who translated what his aunt said, also added parts of what Callum had done with him. It was incredible to see how well the three of them suddenly got along at their expense.

“Ouch!” Janai was laughing when he suddenly put a hand to his side.

“Oh! I had forgotten.” Callum turned to Amaya. “This is the other reason why I called you, she's hurt because of me, I have medicine, but I doubt it's ... right that I apply it.”

Amaya understood right away, she and Gren got up, and she approached the elf. Callum took a jar from an iron chest that was set aside, handed it to his aunt, and left with Gren.

“Wait, you don't have to ...”

They didn't give her time to finish; they closed the door, from there they heard a tumult coming from inside.

“Do you think she will be fine?” The redhead asked.

“Of course, the medicine I did is effective and will not leave sequels.”

“You know I don't mean that.”

But it was much better than thinking about it, they both had flushed cheeks. Amaya, in spite of how affectionate she was with her nephews and friends, was not known for being gentle when giving first aid. And Janai's groans confirmed it.

“Well ... why do you think they want to capture you?”

Callum was thoughtful.

“No idea, but I have several theories.”

……………………………Back with Callum as a child………………………………….

The weeks passed.

Every morning, as always, he would get up and go to the library for the study books. He had classes with Opeli and Viren still, and training with Gren in the afternoon, now, he also had one day a week to rest, although he actually used it for other things.

Three nights a week, he slipped through the guards and returned to the secret vaults of the castle, where he met with Adeena and learned about magic and his new favorite subject, alchemy.

“This is the sting of a black wind wasp.” Adeena showed him what appeared to be a twisted needle. “The poison of one is enough to paralyze an Ambler, and believe me that is not easy. We use them to make muscle relaxants, and of course paralyzing powders, it can also be mixed with other reagents and make antidotes.”

She was a strict teacher, but she forgave his mistakes, the first ones. In the first month, he had learned about the different Primal Sources, what they represented, their purest forms, and, ne theory, how to connect with them. At the same time, he had tried to forge such a connection, without results, but he hoped that soon he’ll make it. They could not speed up the process, the Primal Balls that he hoped to find so much, were in the treasure chamber and to open it he needed to use a spell of any of the six branches, no dark magic or the vaults would expel him unpleasantly.

The special cushion, apart from giving him those rare dreams in which he was traveling on a star path to the top of a mountain, did not seem to be helping him. Adeena kept telling him that everything was going well and that it was part of the process.

One day, she sent him to the training room, not to meditate.

“Today you will learn something that every mage should.” Adeena was changed, she didn't wear her typical attire but a battle one. “After years of study, and practicing different fighting styles, we conclude that the best style was ‘Comme la rivière qui coule’ (like the river that flows) of the tidebound elves. With this art, you should not alternate between battle poses and runes. You can do it continuously and even chain them to form a powerful attack that gives you victory. But it's better if I show you.”

She proceeded to make a series of movements, in each one, luminous marks appeared and joined together forming a symbol, like those that Callum had already seen before, fire red, which was proper.

“Vogni.” She shouted

Flames of bright colours were shot against the dummies, following the same trajectories of Adeena's movements.

“I was not the best in combat but I think it has not gone so bad.” She said and turned to him. “I will teach you the basic movements and in the archives room you will find fighting manuals and scrolls collected by us.”

During the next hour they dedicated themselves to review the postures and their variants of this martial art. Callum had his reservations, he was not very good with physical activities.

“You are too rigid; you should relax a little. Think that you are like a drop of water, letting yourself be carried in the stream.”

No, he didn't imagine it.

They kept trying for a little while, Callum finally showed progress, but his time had run out, he had to go back. Adeena returned to her crystal, but not before telling him to take one of the manuals and practice. After doing so, he went to his room and collapsed tiredly in his bed.

………………………………………………………………………………………….

Callum, Callum, wake up.

Someone was calling him; Ezran was unlikely to be, he was still a baby and barely said his name, however smart he was.

“Wake up!”

The shout, which someone had given him in his ear, woke him up. When he got up he saw Claudia, who had been screaming at him, and Soren, who was standing by the door, watching him.

“Finally, do you not get enough sleep?” The raven haired girl told him. “We've been calling you for a while now.”

“Rather SHE has been calling you. The king has summoned you, so get ready step-prince.” Soren said dryly.

Callum wondered what it could be, what King Harrow wanted. He had no problems, he was studying and his three tutors did not complain about him, in fact even Viren praises him for his progress.

He got ready immediately, and went to the throne room. The guards opened the doors, not only was Harrow; Gren, half of the council were there, on one side Ezran and on the other Claudia and Soren. They had serious expressions.

When he was in the middle of the instance, he saw how something big fell on him, tried to dodge it and almost got it if it was not because that something extended her arms and caught him in his aunt's well-known iron hug. The room burst into laughter.

“Hahaha.” King Harrow laughed heartily. “I'm sorry Callum, but we didn't want to ruin your surprise. Happy Birthday.”

The boy realized the day it was, July 15. Amaya released him and finally took a breath, saw how she was talking to Gren, who translated for the others.

“I see that you have been teaching him well, good reaction and movement.”

“And it is not the only thing he has been learning.” Opeli mentioned.

“Well, there will be time to talk about it later, now how about we celebrate.” The king said.

His birthdays had always been very reserved, even if that wasn't. The castle's servants, guards, nobles and their families joined to celebrate his eighth birthday.

He was overwhelmed, people approached him, greeted him and congratulated effusively. He felt strange, he had never been one of those who caught the attention of others.

“It is because of the rumours.” Claudia told him. “Before you ask, no, I don't read your mind if not ...”

“My face, I know. Tell me about those rumours.”

“Oh! The servants and guards have seen you while you trained and studied, how you worked hard on it. And as it coincided with, well you know, with what happen to your mother, the queen, you know... they believe that you try to follow her example and become, in the future, one of the pillars of the kingdom.”

“But I didn't do it for that ... well in part yes, I want to be useful and help Ezran when he grows up, in addition to protecting our home from any threat.”

“Big dreams without a doubt.” A voice said behind them.

They turned and saw Soren approach them. He looked at him, there was no mockery or sneer at it. He extended his hand to Callum.

“I'm sorry for almost everything. I don't expect you to forgive me, and I'll try to make fun of you less ... peace?”

Callum accepted the offer, there was no hard feelings, they were kids, although perhaps he should have thought better. When shaking his hand, he felt something sticky, Soren had put jelly tart stuffing in his hand.

“Oh come on Soren!”

“What? I said I would try.” The mocking smile came back, he ran away, chased by his sister, who tried to scold him.

Callum felt something in his pocket move, he knew it was. For convenience, and not attracting attention, he had agreed with Adeena to make the book smaller and hide its shape with an illusion. Since he was carrying his sketch book, it didn't seem strange to anyone to take out a booklet and start pointing things out. And after hearing what Claudia told him, he knew that it would be more typical of his new image.

 **Happy Birthday**. She wrote to him.

“Thank you.” He did not write but muttered the words very low.

Someone touched his shoulder. It was Amaya.

“Well, it seems to be true. You are becoming more and more like a scholar.” She smiled at him. “And here I am, waiting to have you in my army in a few years.”

“With soldiers like me, I don't think we win many battles.” He joked.

“Maybe, but half of them wouldn't be so brave.” She ruffled her hair. “Later we have to talk, for now enjoy your day.”

There was a great banquet for everyone, and for what it seemed they were going to have dancing. He ate, laughed and enjoyed with everyone, even danced roughly with Claudia.

………………………………………………………………………………………….

Although everything had to end, while the celebration continued, Callum was called to the king's studio, which was barely used. As before Harrow, the council, Gren and Amaya were waiting for him. This time they were really serious.

“You are here, so we can start.” Viren said.

“You should have consulted me.” Amaya said to Harrow. “Sarai didn't want Callum to have anything to do with the crown until he could decide.”

“And he did it.” The king touched his temples, a new headache. “He presented himself to us, with a much riskier idea. He wanted to make the pilgrimage.”

Amaya was stunned, looked at Callum disapprovingly and he felt ashamed.

“We do not rule out doing it, but first we had to make sure that it met the requirements, to represent the kingdom.” Opeli spoke. “In almost a year, he has progressed to the point that he is at the same educational level as the other children of the nobility and wealthy people.”

“And if you allow me, my lady.” It was Gren's turn. “I've been training Callum these months; he is null with the sword, but has skill with the bow and is capable with polearms.”

“Then you have all agreed, against me.” Amaya was angry. “Against the will of his aunt and that of his mother.”

“No.” Harrow rose abruptly from his seat, staring hard at Amaya. “Callum I hoped I didn't have to say this in front of you.” He addressed the general. “We put him to the test, but he was so determined that he far exceeded what we asked for. And since he had started we didn't want to waste his effort.”

Now everything made more sense, the hardness of the training, the lessons so long and difficult ... in part he felt disappointed, but proud to have proved his worth.

Amaya was staring at him.

“Callum.” She started. “What do you really want to do?”

This was something he had thought many times, and even debated with Adeena, he had long since come to a conclusion. At least temporary.

“I want to be stronger, I want to protect Ezran, Claudia, Soren ... even you, Aunt Amaya. I want that when people look at me they stop doing it with sorrow or compassion, being worthy of being the son of the king of Katolis. Protect our home, and be able to help do it. I know it sounds childish and immature, but I am a child, maybe in the future I will change what I have said but my intention is real. Surely you disagree and you will have a thousand complaints about my plans, but can you help me along the way?”

NO ONE was expected that the shy and quiet Callum would speak so suddenly. In fact, they were stunned by their words and the event.

Harrow was the first to react, went to the boy and hugged him tightly. He was not the only one, Amaya, Gren and Opeli joined. Viren watched from the side, but he looked proud of him.

They returned to normal.

“Well, you have all heard the will of the PRINCE of Katolis.” Viren said. “No one can doubt that he is not trying to do his best for his kingdom.”

“I continue with my doubts, but I respect his decision.” His aunt let the subject go for now.

“So ... can I continue as before?”

“Yes.” His father replied. “With the exception that now you must report your progress every month. You can leave, rest, tomorrow you have class.”

He left the studio, halfway to his room, he felt Adeena speak to him again.

**It is not as refined as what we practice, but the response has been almost perfect.**

“I just didn't remember everything, everything.”

It was not that they had practiced each response for each situation. Rather, than one day after one of Opeli's classes, Adeena decided to teach him to debate and reason, to think for himself. And one day came the same question, after a civilized discussion, he concluded that it was what he wanted to achieve with all this.

“I hope to show them that their effort is not in vain, to all of you.”

**Don't worry kid, you already do.**

After making sure that Ez was asleep and well, he went to bed. Suddenly he felt very tired, his eyelids weighed, he didn't even reach the sheet.

………………………………………………………………………………………….

He was there again, the path of stars, ethereal and bright. The mountain was there too, but unlike other times it was closer. At his feet, under all that, the world. Above, the infinite cosmos.

He still didn't know what he was supposed to do, he walked with only one direction, he never bothered to see what was behind. Maybe it was time to see it.

He turned slowly.

He saw them, or thought he could see them. There were their loved ones, from Harrow to ... Sarai.

What did that all mean?

He looked towards the mountain, now that he was closer he saw the top; there were the artefacts he had heard Adeena mention, just as he had imagined them.

He took a step toward it, felt as if something precious had disappeared. He turned around again. One of the people had vanished.

He took a step toward his family and friends.

The mountain moved away.

Did he have to give them up for power? Why?

What is the use of power if he had to renounce those he intended to protect with it?

There was no middle ground?

His head ached. I wanted to be able to do it, be the most powerful mage and teach Ezran when I grew up, Claudia to leave the dark magic. And be with those he loved. He wanted to fulfil his wish. The real one.

The stars of the cosmos began to shine brightly, the mountain and the others left, disappeared. The world began to shake violently. The road began to fade.

Starlight concentrated on a beam of light that hit him, throwing him against the planet.

Everything went white.

………………………………………………………………………………………….

Callum opened his eyes, the feeling was similar to when the crystal broke.

“Finally, you wake up. said a familiar voice. I didn't know if you would make it, I'm glad you did.

Adeena, in her still incorporeal version, looked at him from the top of her bed, floated quietly.

“Adeena ... you are ... here. But this is not the vault.”

“No, it is not.”

“Then how?”

“You tell me. How you feel? Do you feel how time goes by when you don't look? The connection between people? The presence of the astral plane? ... Do you feel your Arcanum?”

Callum was confused, overwhelmed, excited ... everything she had said, he could feel. When he stood still, he noticed how everything moved, he saw people through the walls, or their essences, his Arcanum corrected him. There were no words to describe it.

I understand you very well, the first time I connected with another alien to mine it happened the same to me. Although the reaction was more violent, do not mix opposites the first time.

So that means, I'm a mage.

Adeena held his head, or pretended to.

“No.” She said sorry. “You are on the road to be one. Now comes the really hard. You must deepen that connection, meditating and practicing. There aren't many spells I know about the Star Arcanum. In life, I didn't get deep into it.” She looked out. “It's late, sleep, we'll talk tomorrow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So ... A friend who read my chapters told me to explain some things in the endnotes. So here I go.
> 
> **Comme la rivière qui coule: Like the flowing river.** I read it once in a book that I loved and put it in French because I am learning the language. (That way I practice) It's quite easy to understand how it goes and Adeena will teach Callum, it's no secret. (I have references to it in droves)
> 
>  **Vogni: Voco + Igni.** Like Aspiro = aura + spiro (thanks to AnalogRain for the quick correction; is its own word too), I thought of a similar one, obviously it didn't work out so well. Voco is I call / summon in Latin and igni ... it's fire. Compound is basically the translation would be I call / summon fire.
> 
>  **Dormite** is the imperative of the verb to sleep (I think it carried an exclamation or something) Pretty self explanatory.
> 
> On the part of Callum's speech I am not happy or satisfied, but I rewrote it about four times and this is the one that seemed best to me.
> 
> Still i have no idea when i'm ending this, or where i want to go with the plot. So please, bear with me.  
> SEE YOU SOON.


	4. A star has been born

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * The author opens the hatch of his bunker and slides the chapter out *  
> I leave this here ...  
> * he closes again running the hatch and hears how he blocks it. *

The nights were quite pleasant on the border, illuminated by molten rock and accompanied by the symphony of gases that were expelled by land accompanied by the crackling and sizzling of lava. Callum was enjoying that show, not natural since it was created with magic.

Two weeks ago Janai was gone, as was his aunt and Gren. His days had become quite monotonous, patrolling in the morning, looking for anomalies, renewing detector spells ... if it wasn't for spontaneous visitors he would get bored.

Lunsang and other archdragons had begun to visit him, not wanting to fight, just talk. When he asked them why they wanted to capture him, they didn't know how to answer him. He didn’t go deeper into the subject, because he knew that they had no real information. There have been no more attempts at attack by anyone, from Xadia or the pentarchy.

“ _They must have felt my presence in you._ ” The old man said. “ _There is no other explanation._ ”

“Nor is it that we are very subtle, you have taken control of me several times, and your Arcanum is very specific.” The boy sighed. “Do you think I should turn myself in?”

“ _What!? NO, Flubeia would tear you apart in order to reach me. Without a doubt the worst of your ideas._ ”

“And what do you suggest then? Keep avoiding what we know will end up happening, she and the other monarchs will join, ambush me and capture me.”

“ _At least we will have time to plan how to escape, think about it_.”

He didn't want to think anymore, he didn't want to run away anymore, stop fighting.

“ _Boy, problems approach, they come straight from Xadia, again._ ”

He didn't answer, he went for his bow, his sceptre and a couple of other things. He saw them from a distance, a large group this time, dragons and other creatures had joined. Callum smiled, how ironic.

“ _Are you going to need my help?_ ” The old man asked, seemed worried.

“No, I have everything under control.”

And went to meet them.

……………………………Back with Callum as a child………………………………….

“* Cough * Are you sure this should smell like this?”

“As if something had rotted and was now fermenting in a manure tank, yes, unfortunately.”

Callum and Adeena were in the middle of one of their alchemy lessons, trying to teach the boy an elixir to improve reflexes temporarily.

They had argued a lot to see what the first recipe prepared by him would be. In the end, and after convincing arguments, Adeena had taught him this formula. For his part, Callum was looking for something to show at the next council meeting, and thought of something simple for the soldiers.

Since the conversation they had on his birthday, two months ago, he was invited every time the council met, according to Opeli it was to complement his royal education. As fantastic as it sounds, it was seeing adults talk about market prices, troop movements and taxes.

In a way, he had also learned the mechanics of the kingdom, as it was to truly govern. Simply put, a constant headache. He had seen Harrow take his hand to his temples three times at least in each session.

The other novelty was the monthly reports of his progress; He started with a combat test, he thanked that his opponents were never Soren, Corvus or Gren; followed by an exam in which the other members of the council, except Viren and Opeli, asked him random questions about everything he studied. The second one was harder, since if he failed, he would leave his teachers in ridicule.

The nightly lessons with Adeena in the vaults also continued, harder now that he had connected to an Arcanum. They had redoubled their efforts, as she had to teach him three hundred years of lessons as little as possible, without summarizing. His lessons in alchemy and magic progressed well, even in those of magical combat he began to improve.

The strangest thing is that he could follow the hellish rhythm at which his life moved. Since connecting with the Primal Star, his body was full of energy, especially at night. Adeena had explained that when an Arcanum was forged, the person would also receive property from it. The elves, who had already been born with it, acquired it as they deepened that connection.

He had not yet opened the treasure room, for this he needed to relate a spell worthy of an archmage, and he had not even completed his first rune.

It wasn't that he didn't want to, but his teacher had forbidden him even to approach the magic volumes. He needed to first harmonize with his newly acquired ability, before he could cast his first spell. According to her, he was close to achieving it.

Oh and now he could see Adeena without needing to be in the vaults, apparently she used her Arcanum, connecting to him through the crystal. She called it, astral manifestation, could basically move along the astral plane.

“Well, I think it's done. Congratulations! your first step in alchemy and without anything exploding.”

The color of the elixir had changed during the process several times, and now it didn't stink anymore. The ingredients were simple, normal, so they wouldn't have to make incursions into Xadia to get them, and cheap, Callum thought the finance advisor would cry for joy.

“Works?”

“That is the most fun part of being the alchemist, trying your creations.” Adeena chuckled.

“How?”

“You can take a sip, or give it to someone ...”

Without thinking, since the idea of using others as guinea pigs seemed repulsive to him, he took the ladle with which he was stirring and took a sip. At first, he felt nothing, it seemed that it had not taken effect, until he noticed that everything was going slower around him. It wasn't that he could move faster, his senses were simply sharpened. He could even clearly see the changing runes that ran through the vault, no doubt a success.

He bottled everything that remained, if the calculations were correct, a bottle was equivalent to one hour. The little drink he had taken would last about ten minutes. So he took the opportunity to collect everything he had used and get Adeena out of there, which, for him, floated slowly.

After ten minutes, the two were inside one of the uneven towers, he had discovered a series of passages that ran through much of the castle, one led from the dungeons to the west tower.

It was dawn, today was one of his days off. For people it had become habitual that if they did not find him in his bedroom, or with Ezran, he was in the tower drawing or watching the sunrise. What they did not know is that it was at that time, at dawn and sunset, that the strength of their Arcanum was felt more easily, and was perfect for meditation and strengthening.

“You know...” Adeena started. “Convergence day is coming.”

“The day of what?”

“At the end of the tenth month of each year in Xadia an old tradition is celebrated, the day when the barrier between our world and beyond becomes very thin and lets the spirits and other entities pass this side.”

“Ha, here we call it the day of the end of the harvest season, and not much is celebrated, a fair I think.”

She patted his head.

“In any case, it's the perfect time to cast your first spell, if that doesn't work I don't know what it will do.”

“Don't worry, I will get it.” He reassured her.

“Well that is the attitude, the next day I will show you how it goes. But now you should attend a meeting.”

……………………………………………………………………..

He arrived just before they started, the council members were sitting in a table that they brought only for the occasion; Harrow was on his throne, near him Viren and Opeli.

Callum also had his place, next to the doors, far and only as an observer; not that he could not speak or make suggestions, was that he had nothing to say and, even if it were the case, they would not take him seriously.

He took out his booklet, Adeena had written him something.

**Wait for the right opportunity.**

He thought when it could be. He did not have to wait for a long time, Layland, commander of the forces stationed in the capital and military adviser, was talking about what to do with soldiers who were getting old or had suffered a wound that prevented them from keeping up with the rookies. The advisor was known to defend the interests of his soldiers, Amaya always spoke well of him and Gren held him in high esteem.

“If you excuse me.” Callum interrupted them. “Maybe I have a small solution to the problem."

Strangely and for once everyone paid attention to him, of course they then turned to the king waiting to see if he gave him permission to speak.

“Go ahead Callum, speak without fear.” His father told him.

The boy took a breath, and looked them straight ahead, just as he had practiced.

“Recently, several ancient volumes dating from the time before the formation of the kingdom were discovered in the library. With the teachings I have received from Lord Viren, I have managed to decipher part of them. They are treated of a lost art for ours, alchemy. Some were not salvageable, but among the pages of one of the books I found a recipe for an elixir that temporarily improves the reaction capacity of the person who takes it.”

“So that's why you asked me to teach you the old language.” The focus was on Viren. He looked at the rest and said. “It is true that these volumes exist, and yes, I taught him some words to decipher, but I didn't think he would make it.”

“It was not my intention to deceive you.” Callum bowed to him by way of apology. “It was just out of curiosity.”

“If this formula is true, why has it not been used so far?” One of the members asked.

“Alchemy is an art lost for many reasons.” Viren replied. “Among them is that it is not known what effects it would have with the dark magic attached and that many of the formulas have been lost.

Exact amounts are required to achieve the desired effects, otherwise instead of creating an antidote, you would create a poison.”

“Lord Viren is right, in addition to that during the process you have to watch the mixture or it could trigger a rather violent explosion, and more than the flames you have to fear that the solution will splash on you.”

That caused the other members to be alarmed. But Lady Opeli seemed to think of something else.

“Prince Callum, you speak as if you had already done the elixir...” She said.

Callum didn't need to read what Adeena had put on the page when he felt the movement in his pocket.

**BUSTED**

They were speechless and wide-eyed, Viren's face was complicated, and Harrow didn't know how to proceed.

“I've ... done some experiments. NOTHING dangerous ... I promise ... and the results have been good, they only have normal sequels, but only if you take too much ...”

“CALLUM” The king caught his attention. “Have you been practicing something that could have set the castle on fire without supervision and alone?”

He could not say exactly that, but how to explain that he has had the help of his halfling teacher who is trapped in a magic crystal. He looked down, avoiding having to face the others.

“I think ... it would be convenient for us to talk about it later, your majesty.” He heard Opeli's voice. “Right now, the young prince was exposing his idea.”

"Yes, you're right, we'll talk later." You could see the anger in his voice.

"* Ahem * Continue prince."

“Alright.” Callum took from his pocket one of the little bottles he had filled before and a piece of parchment with the recipe and the procedure. “After several attempts, I managed to make a dose. The effect is as described in the texts and can be done easily, and even the ingredients are simple to find and common.” He handed the parchment to the others. “If someone wants to try just take a few drops of this that I have here.” And he showed the bottle.

They looked at the object with suspicion, but the boy already expected it, as well as what would happen, or almost.

“I will take it.” Harrow said. It is no secret that I am no longer so fit or young. “If it works on me, it should do it on others.”

Callum swallowed when he saw his father approach.

“Wait, your majesty.” Layland hastened to cut him off. “I should be who take it. After all, the prince is taking the risk for old glories like me, I trust him.”

The commander approached and took the vial. As instructed, he dropped two drops of the elixir in his mouth. The others in the room expected something to happen, anything.

“Well boy, how do we know if ...”

Callum didn't let him end, he had grabbed one of the candlesticks in the room and was about to hit the man with it, not even the guards had seen him take it. When everyone expected to see the blow , they were surprised to see how Layland grabbed the boy's hand without problem and stopped him.

“What are you doing? You don't know how dangerous that is?” The commander did not understand the situation and less what had just happened, he only saw the prince's smile.

When he turned to see the others and saw their expressions, he understood. The elixir worked, and quite well.

Soon the council members started talking to each other, Callum's note passed from hand to hand quickly. They discussed how to obtain the reagents and begin the production of this miracle. Some talked about selling it to citizens and other kingdoms as medicine. Viren was the one with the most complicated expression, and that was odd considering that Harrow's was still expressing his anger.

“This will give more opportunity for our more experienced soldiers, they will not only be able to teach but to participate actively in more missions and be assigned to positions and exercises.”

“We must be cautious; the prince specifies here that they should not be taken more than three a month or may cause problems to the body.”

Layland was somewhat stunned, Callum understood him, when you see how everything happens slowly, he has time to think a lot and many things.

“Ladies. Sirs. Calm down.” Opeli demanded. “Before starting something we must clarify something.” He turned to Callum. “Prince, since you have experience in making this… thing. Can you teach some people interested in it?”

Callum's face lit up.

“Of course Lady Opeli, in a month if they are fit they could start manufacturing.”

“Well, well. Oh! Prince Callum we still have a pending conversation about dangerous experiments, stay here until the meeting is over.”

Opeli was smiling, but there was no candour in her, for Callum that smile was a great sign of danger.

The adults continued, the subject of the elixir had stayed somewhat away, Layland returned to normal as soon as the effects were over. Meanwhile, the young prince was on one side with his booklet, apparently thinking of his possible punishment.

**Don't worry, it's been better than we expected, and they seem satisfied. Soon you will have the title of royal Alchemist, you'll see.**

Adeena tried to reassure him.

“If I already know that, what worries me is what comes before that.”

At noon, the king ended the council, those who passed by him, gave him a compassionate look, the commander even gave him a pat on the back. You can imagine what came next. For an eternal hour, Harrow and Opeli were ‘kindly’ reminding him of the safety rules and how dangerous it is to play with fire and things that explode. Then they asked him to explain the elaboration process, to which he agreed without questioning, he only had to repeat it a couple of times to get it understood.

……………………………………………………………………..

The day of Convergence / the end of the harvest season had finally arrived. Callum was heading to the vaults, to pick something up and then perform his first spell when ...

“Hey Step-Prince, come here.” He heard someone calling him. It was Soren.

“What do you want Soren? Are you going to send me back to the kitchens to clean up a mess of yours?”

“No, no ... well, that too, later. Come, I want to show you something.”

Soren pressed one of the hall slabs and opened an opening, of course he knew about the passageways, he had mentioned it once and found it on his own, though not all. They went to one who communicated to the throne room, and signalled him to keep silent. He had no idea what it could be until he heard them.

“Your Majesty, on the matter of the prince ...”

“Viren. I told you to call me by name in private.”

“We are not exactly in private…”

“But it is an unofficial meeting.”

They heard a sigh coming from the mage.

“Harrow, about Callum…”

“I'm not in the mood to talk about it, I'm still trying to think how to tell the ‘good news’ to his aunt.”

“You know you won't be able to avoid it for a long time ...”

“I know...”

“...Sooner or later the letters will begin to arrive ...”

“I know...”

“... and they want you to confirm your answer.”

“I KNOW.”

The room fell silent.

“Do we know who has been saying it out there?” He heard how his father asked.

“No.” Opeli replied. “But it is possible that they have figured it out ... and then the word has spread.”

“Perfect ... just what we needed. Amaya is going to kill me.”

“Well, if it's any consolation, your majesty, she will kill me first.” They heard Gren's voice.

“No, not much. She will kill you quickly and then go to me, force me to abdicate and take the throne to avoid the matter.” A nervous laugh travelled the room.

“Sorry.” A new voice rang, it was Claudia's. “Will we say something to Callum?, it's not like we can keep it a secret forever. And less for him.”

“Right, right ... I'll call him later. I just have to think about how to tell him.”

“Well, it should be easy.” Viren commented. “After all he has achieved what he wanted, his pilgrimage will begin and before any other in the history of the pentarchy.

We must select who will accompany the prince, and select his route.”

There was a loud blow.

“That goes against traditions! It is well written that the pathfinder must travel alone, carrying only what is necessary.” They heard one of the counsellors speak.

“And what about the gifts to monarchs and noble houses?”

“Please, it is known by all who are sent in advance, to ensure that they receive them well and with luxuries.”

They argued again. There was another loud blow, and there was silence.

“Gren, you seem thoughtful.” Harrow spoke. “Do you want to tell us something?”

“Only ... Prince Callum is going to be a bit disappointed.”

“And why? For the news received, the other nations are fighting to see who will be the first to receive him.”

“Exactly. I have been talking to him for a long time, and it seems he already had his plans for when we would give his approval.” Gren looked worried.

“Just like us ...” Harrow sighed again. “I expected that over the years the boy would lose the desire to continue with this and acquire interest in something else. Although now with that of alchemy, I almost prefer that he is traveling than blowing things up.”

“Something we all share.” They didn't recognize the voice, but she wasn't the only person to say it.

“Then that's it.” Opeli said. “I will call him when you say.”

Apparently everything was over. Soren took him by the sleeve and pulled him from there. He took him back to his room.

“Buff, how intense right?”

Callum was not well, he was angry, although he did not know well with whom or why.

“Hey, if you can do me a favour, don't blame Claudia ... or me. She asked me to take you there, she wanted you to find out.”

“How long have you known?”

“Weeks. My father told us, he wanted her and I to be in your escort, in case you chose to have one ...” Soren looked at him, despite being taller, shuddered to see the anger on his friend's face. “If you'll excuse me, I'm supposed to be on the other side of the castle.” And he left.

Callum got up and went, distracted, to the vaults. He didn't care if someone caught him. He took one of the gems that were in the alchemy room, a star sapphire, and went outside to the uneven towers.

“In case you want to know, my parents didn't like it when I told them that I was leaving home to learn magic.” Adeena appeared at his side, put her hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, when they see the results of everything you will achieve, they will swallow their words and ask you for forgiveness for doubting you.”

“It is not what I want.”

“I know, you want their respect, but first you need their attention, and you're on the right track. Have you brought what I asked for?”

“Yes.” He showed her the sapphire. She put her ethereal hand on it.

“Well now watch.” She summoned a scroll, which she opened and showed the boy. In him there was a rune image and a words he did not understand. “This is the simplest I could think of, it is simple and serves to attack.” She made a star-shaped rune. “Lux Stellarum.” A sphere of light appeared that illuminated everything around them. “You can use it for when you are in the dark and to attack you just have to add a word. Sagittas.” The orb shot out and hit the wall, leaving a hole and burn marks. It was heard as something broke, the gem had lost its shine and fragmented. “The sapphire's strength is not enough, but you get the concept.”

“Now you try.”

Callum looked closely at the scroll, then closed his eyes. He extended his hand and prepared himself as he had seen her do and traced the same symbol he was seeing in the air, he almost lost his concentration when he saw through his eyelids the brightness of the rune. Then he said the words and the orb of light also appeared. His teacher's effusive applause was heard.

“Good. Fantastic. Sublime. Many do not do well on their first attempt; you are natural for this.”

“Do you think.”

“Yes, soon you will be a great archmage. Do you remember the second part?”

Callum nodded and spoke the word. “Sagittas”

Just as before, the orb shot out, with even more force, it crossed the wall of the tower leaving behind a hole through which the exterior and molten rock could be seen.

The young man was stunned. Instead, Adeena was elated.

Something was crossing her mind, something that made her gaze voracious, and her smile, devilish. But the young Callum did not see that, he stared at what he had done, in it he saw his future, in which he would fulfil his ambition.

……………………………Back to the present………………………………….

And he had done it, yes. And the consequences were before him, the armies of the magical lands of Xadia united against a common enemy, against him.

He had done something terrible, his pride had caused his downfall, he had no home to return to, not with his head high. He could not look at his family, or visit his friends, and no matter what Amaya said, he saw the disappointment in her eyes.

He carried his backpack, his sketchbook, his scarf and his faithful sceptre. He approached the elves leading the march, they still looked at him in disgust, yet he saw something new in them, respect.

“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.” One had to be cordial.

“ _Callum listen, don't do it ..._ ” The old man was in distress.

“Have you come to fight?” One of them asked. “Looks like you're going on a trip.”

“That's right, I wanted to go far away. But I wanted to ask you something before.” He stared at them. “When you require justice for your king, you mean me, right?”

The one who spoke before got off his mount, a large lightning cheetah, even for his kind. He approached Callum and stood in front of him. He was a skywing elf, without wings.

“Yes.”

“ _Boy, think carefully about what you do ..._ ”

“And you have nothing against Katolis or the rest of the pentarchy?”

“Right.”

“And you seemed talkative ... So assuming you captured me, you wouldn't do anything to them, right?”

“No, we will not do anything to them; if our kings do not order it to us.”

The others were nervous; an awkward silence had formed between those present. Dragons and beasts looked at the human with suspicion, remembered what he was capable of. And he made the first move.

He smiled, and offered his sceptre to the elf. He only said three words.

“I give up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know. This looks like a filler chapter, and I'm not happy about how it went, but I have good news, after two days in which I have not stopped finally I have a sketch of the story ... and I hope to follow it until the end (of the third season XD)  
> It will be difficult for me to write for a few weeks, there is a lot to do at this time, I am sure you know it well.  
> See you in the next chapter ... when I publish it ... Bye


	5. Last test.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here i am again. Happy reading. And Happy HOLIDAYS!

Callum could see it, not believe it, his five senses blunted by nausea and guilt, he saw the bodies and smelled the blood and the burned flesh. Steel, rock and other things mixed with the ground, his hands stained with blood, was not his. He heard them but paid no attention to what they said; He had prepared for the worst, and now here he was, in something unimaginable.

He looked up, another attack on him. His hands were fast, Fulminis were always one of his favourites spells, maybe after this no longer. They fell down to the ground when the lightning struck them, they would not rise again. A sword approached at high speed, straight to his neck, narrowly dodged it. He was surrounded, he wouldn't escape, and then...

…………………………………………………………………..

He woke up, he was in the elf camp; they had camped near the border, at dusk. They were two days from Lux Aurea, apparently the queen there wanted to see him, and then take him to a common place to meet with the other monarchs and let him be judged by them.

He hadn't brought even a blanket with him, but it wasn't a problem, the kind elves had given him decent accommodation. A carriage for himself, with a metal plate as a floor, a resistant roof and metal bars replacing the walls and with multiple restrictive runes. Oh! And three beautiful helpers to watch him day and night, bring him food and help him go to the bathroom. For the night and the cold wind, they had given him a somewhat rough, itchy fabric.

He got up from where he was, there were still hours to dawn. His assistant was a few meters leaning against the tree, taking a nap. An earthblood elf, young and possibly still in training. Callum had heard his name a couple of times, although he didn't remember it well.

He did his best to distract himself, he wanted to avoid thinking about the nightmare, or rather the memory. For months it had stopped happening, of course, with the Star Arcanum you never know for sure when something stops happening.

“I feel your anger ... are you going to continue giving me the silent treatment?”

There was no answer, the old man had shut up, he didn't speak to him, or anyone, that he knew.

“I guess I deserve it ... I ignored you, but I don't regret it, maybe now I would atone for my crimes.” He smiled bitterly.

He heard footsteps, he didn't want to hear screaming at that time, so he picked up one of the nearby pebbles and with an accurate aim, more attributed to luck, woke up his jailer. He wanted to protest against Callum and tell him something, but when he heard the steps and watched as the captain approached, he changed his mind and whispered a thank you.

“Leave us alone.” He heard the Captain say.

His assistant greeted and left. The newcomer was the same skywing elf he had surrendered to.

“You cause less problems than expected, not an attempt to escape, do not try to make friends with us with words or gifts, no magic, neither dark nor primal ... what is it you want? Where is that human who pushed back the armies of both sides without dishevelled?”

They both stared at each other, the tension was palpable.

“* Sigh * I don't plan anything, at least bad. I want to keep an old promise, and at the same time see what your leaders want from me. Nothing more, I promise.”

“So, let's say I suddenly leave this open.” He opened the cell. “And I leave this here.” He had already seen that he carried his sceptre behind his back, the elf left it on the ground. “What would you do?”

Callum liked that game.

“Well, I would start by going out, taking my precious object, and asking you where the cook is.”

“The Cook?”

“Have you tried anything they brought me? I've had better dishes cooked by pixies, and everyone knows that they add too much salt to their dishes.”

That made the captain laugh out loud. Callum thought he would wake up the others.

“You, have you eaten with pixies? That's funny, how was it?”

“You can imagine it, a real show ...” Callum stared at him, wanted to see any change in his expression. “Now seriously, what are you trying to do? I already said that I would go with you and give up, what else do you need?”

“From you ... a lot. When you arrived in Xadia, years ago, my master and others were against letting you be here, all but the king. As the months passed, you proved that our judgment was wrong, you alone, you brought a new era in which it was thought that the continent could be united again ... and suddenly things changed.” The captain clenched his fists. “The king died, no, he was killed, by your father and his high mage, along with his egg, and you denied us justice. Why?”

“Answers? That is what you are looking for.” Callum chuckled. “Nothing he says will satisfy you, neither you nor the others who listen in secret.”

Of course he had realized they were there, he had no connection to the moon Arcanum, but it was difficult for illusions and other tricks to deceive him. One after another, elves from different backgrounds came out of their hiding places, he recognized some of them by sight, not only for the hours they had been traveling, but to see them on other occasions, when everything was going well.

“They remind you.” The captain told him. “Remember the good things you have done, how you helped, healed, and taught that not all humans are bad. So why?”

Callum, he was fed up, so he did something that even surprised him; He left the cage, and took off his scarf, exposing what he never thought he would show and less to strangers. The reaction to seeing him was worse for the elves, some gasped, some looked away, but everyone, everyone, felt sorry for him.

“Your justice has been imparted. He put on the scarf again. King Harrow of Katolis has paid, and in the process has lost a son. Forever.” He approached until the still confused captain elf. “So let's make a deal, do your duty, take me where they told you, and your answers will be given.”

He climbed back into his cell / carriage.

“Does it hurt?” He heard someone asking.

“Only when I think about it.”

They left, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

“ _That has been unexpected._ ”

“Now you want to talk?”

“ _Aw ... and I who came to make peace. But I understand, they’ve made you open an old wound, and now, you are angry._ ”

“You see that is the reason why I think you are a product of my imagination, you just tell me the obvious. And you don't contribute anything useful.”

The old man laughed. “ _This time I will forgive you. But do not doubt my existence, when you spend too much time in the beyond, do you change in many ways, or do you not remember how you changed?_ ”

“I do, and better than you think ...”

……………………………Back with Callum as a child………………………………….

The lights danced around him; he lacked the sense of touch, he knew it, but still, he felt how soft the ground he was stepping on, a crystalline forest in front of him.

The astral plane was beautiful; Callum saw the spirit of people and animals, as well as unknown creatures wandering the place. It was a new practice of his powers; during the night, when he had no practice with Adeena, he should project himself astrally and commune with the beings that lived there. Until now, he had met several new creatures, the spirits came and went, there were all sizes and shapes. He had spoken and played with vinefants, pachyderms formed by vines and roots; heard harmonious tulips sing, although they were quite conceited; He had mounted on flying serpents and travelled to several planets of this ethereal universe; heard wise men from other times, seen architectural and natural wonders, learned about many things and there was still so much to see ...

In half a year he had grown a lot, in knowledge and as a person, not so much in height and body, although Opeli and Adeena repeated to him that that would soon change.

His hair had also grown, constantly reminded him, the members of the court and the pulls of little Ezran when they played together. Now that Ez was three years old, it was harder to keep him under control. His favourite activity was to move between the passages that were all over the castle, mounted in Bait, a rather grumpy luminous toad; the nickname was put by Harrow, with his dark sense of humour.

Claudia and Soren had also grown a lot, not just physically; Soren was still dedicated body and soul to his training as a crown guard and Claudia had deepened more in her studies of dark magic, something she noticed every time she saw her with her cosmic vision ... something that stirred his stomach.

Another of his new skills, mainly was to see things coming from beyond. With Claudia, and let's not say Viren, it was a scary thing; he saw the faces and shapes of the poor magical creatures whose essence and lives had been stolen, in the case of the high mage, he had seen even the faces of other people. Now he understood why Adeena said it was an abomination.

The end of the year parties had passed quickly; they had had a banquet all over the capital, even members of the border guard had attended. His aunt Amaya, Gren, even the reclusive and grumpy Lieutenant Fen ... who was incredibly the opposite of Gren, in every way.

During the celebration delegates from other kingdoms, and young nobles in the midst of their pilgrimage, had attended. It was no secret that they actually sought to convince Callum to take his kingdom as their first objective, which was apparently important. All but Duren, who by his proximity and relationship with Katolis was satisfied with being the last visited.

From the pilgrim girls and boys, he had learned that he should spend visiting important locations in each nation, and that, depending on the circumstances, he could spend months in the same place. Then, from Lady Opeli, he learned that in reality those spoiled kids were living with luxuries of others that their parents had paid. So more than a ritual of adulthood, they were in the middle of a long-term vacation elsewhere. None took the entrusted mission seriously.

He had known that in order to receive the approval of each monarch, he had to complete a task ordered by them, and ... guess to who was going to recieve the most difficult? With two pinkies, green eyes and more sarcasm than common sense, Callum is your candidate with all the ballots.

Another new facet discovered as he grew up had become a user of the art of sarcasm and irony. Too many meetings with the council. Since he shared his ability with alchemy with the rest, once a month and under the supervision of Viren, Opeli and Layland, he prepared dozens of potions and elixirs for everyone's use. Not only that of reflex improvement elixirs, but also healing ointments; various medicines; Beautifying creams, to be exported and sold locally, Adeena's recommendation; non-nasty and environmentally friendly fertilizers ... etc. The help of his assistants was not enough, and from time to time he brought recipes from the vaults, which made the work twofold.

His life had turned into a storm; his master was empowering to joke that he would soon connect with the Sky Arcanum if he continued like this.

As for the lessons with bows and self-defence, he had begun to surprise others by winning, one in ten times. Only while practicing, real combat was another matter.

.……………………………………………………………………..

“Prince Callum.” He heard that a guard called him from the door, the attitude of many had changed since his recent display of skills. “I hope not to interrupt, your father, King Harrow, calls you to go to the throne room.”

“Understood, I'll go as soon as I finish writing this.” Callum replied.

He was in the library, or as Soren called it, his second room. It was true that he spent too much time inside, but his new pseudo position as a royal alchemist made him have to be there after his training hours, and sometimes, his sleep time.

He knew well why he had been called, today was the monthly report of his progress. He was ready, he carried with him the staff he always used, and his folding bow; a new addition that he had required blacksmiths to make according to a diagram, which he found in the archives room of the vault.

He had not yet told anyone about his newly found gift for primal magic, his instinct told him that that would raise too many questions from others. However, his new abilities did not seem to have gone unnoticed, he occasionally received strange looks from the council and the guards; Adeena didn't help much either, she said it was normal and that any change would be associated with the issue of growing up.

He arrived at the throne room, the two crown guards watching the gate greeted him.

“Are you ready, your highness?” Asked one of them.

“Yes, I think so.” He shrugged his shoulders, they were already used to it.

They opened the gate with all ceremonies.

Callum still had a hard time when people treated him as the prince that he is supposed to be, especially when he went around the city in search of relaxation and people stopped to bow to him or say ‘your highness’. He began to miss the nickname of ‘step-prince’, luckily Soren, in private, kept calling him the same.

“Announcing the arrival of his highness, Prince Callum of Katolis.”

It was surprising that he didn't die of shame every time he heard them say it out loud. The ceremony and pomposity were necessary; not only did the council members attend, nobles and wealthy people, together with their offspring, came to see him make a fool of himself. Not that he did it wrong, but it was exaggerated that they came for him, or for pleasing the king. Didn't they have anything better to do?

They were all there, and he was again the center of attention. The memory procedure was known; He approached with firm steps, without haste, to the throne, and bowed to his father, waited for him to tell him to raise his head. Harrow always showed him a wide smile, seemed proud of him and the person he was becoming. Next to it were Viren and Opeli, arguing softly, as always, Ezran was in Claudia's arms, they both greeted him as well.

“Welcome everyone again.” The king said. “As you know, today, like other times, Callum son of Sarai, will be put to the test by us, and just as before those present can challenge him to a duel, either in knowledge or combat.”

Every time Callum heard him say that, he got nervous, not about grieving or being tested, if not being Sarai's son, but not Harrow's. A thorn stuck in a long time.

He was granted the time to talk; recounting his activities this month, from his exploration of arcane texts in the library, his fighting practices, his alchemical elaboration, to the lessons received. No one questioned that he was learning efficiently, so they didn't ask him much about the content of his classes. They went directly to combat.

“I would like to try the prince's expertise, please.”

Callum heard a familiar voice and hoped it wasn't real. Corvus, his aunt's other trusted soldier, expert tracker and let's not say how good a fighter he is. Six years older than Callum, but he had made a place among the ranks of the elite troops on his own. The boy stiffened just thinking about the tortuous task that would survive the fight.

Since he learned that they had already approved his petition, Amaya had added a clause to get her approval. Callum had to win or endure for ten minutes against soldiers that she would send in each monthly report.

And he had met so far, the first two, were easy, too easy. Fortunately, he did not believe how poor the border troops were worth, when the third arrived he had to sweat to win; with the fourth and fifth endured, but almost lost.

With Corvus, there was no colour. He had seen him fight twice, he used a chain and a hook, which allowed him to defend himself and attack at short and medium distance, in addition to the combination of movements with the knife set he kept in his belt could cause him problems. It was not enough to just defend and endure until the sand on the clock ran out. He would have to figure out how to attack him.

“And I accept.” Callum said.

Both went outside, on the way Corvus spoke with Callum.

“Don't worry, the general has asked me not to surpass myself, but I think that will depend on your performance.” The tracker looked at the guests following the council and the king. “Also, I think it would be good if you showed everything you are capable of.”

“Why?”

“Why do you think they are here?” He pointed at the others.

“To show respect to Harrow?”

Corvus burst out laughing. When he calmed down he commented.

“No, no, they are here to find a new boyfriend for their sons and daughters, or at best a husband.”

Callum blushed, that wasn't expected at all.

“Don't tell me you didn't know.” Corvus looked confused. “Well, at least I can report it to Amaya, maybe She'd rather see you around on adventures than flirting all day ... although I have heard you spend more time between books and with your cauldron.”

When they reached the patio, they saw a small group of girls and boys about his age. Corvus gave him a mischievous look, and Callum sighed to release tension, it did not work. They waited for people to take positions and Harrow sat in the chair that the servants had brought.

“I miss the appetizers that there were for occasions like this.” Adeena appeared at his side. “If you want advice, keep your distance as much as you can, overwhelm him with the arrows until the quiver is empty and then take things to close combat.”

“You know he's twice taller and bigger than me, right?”

“Believe me, I have eyes and I can hardly take them away from him ... I wish I was alive.”

“I don't think you could go out with him, you are many centuries older than him.” He realized his mistake late.

“It seems that someone wants to practice the twelve most difficult positions of ‘Comme la rivière qui coule’.” She turned her back and stood next to the other spectators.

Seeing how the day was just getting ‘better’, Callum focused on the task he had to accomplish. Anyone in his position would do as Adeena had recommended, but he knew that Corvus had an advantage in everything, following the conventions would not work.

Harrow raised his arm, the two fighters prepared, their weapons ready, Callum had taken out his bow, Corvus began to drop chain and tempt with the hook.

When the king lowered his hand, they both threw themselves against each other, Corvus was stunned, but only for a few seconds, he immediately moved his arm, pulling the chain, to hit him.

Callum did not stop advancing, tightened the bowstring and shot two arrows, one to the hook and another against Corvus; he had to take advantage of the weapon flow and divert the chain trajectory to block the bolt.

The young prince approached even more and, with his staff, tried to unbalance his opponent, he did not succeed. Instead, the tracker used the movement against him by throwing the hook again, pushing him back this time.

It was the right approach, he thought. Callum took his hand to the bag in his belt. This was like any fight that could live outside, so he had to use all his tricks if necessary. He threw several smoke bombs, Corvus knew, what he did not see was the object that was speeding towards him and was spinning at high speed, he could not block or dodge in time. The boomerang hit him right in the head, blood began to sprout from his right eyebrow.

The cut was superficial, but the blood hindered his vision and the blow had not stunned him enough, so the tracker threw the hook again, this time it was right, the smoke screen also affected Callum, which he pulled towards himself.

The prince used the impulse and tried to kick the other, Corvus blocked without much trouble the blow and threw the boy on the ground. Both soon began to exchange blows, one after another, Callum managed to give at least as many as he received. Or so he wanted to think.

The truth was that his attacks were not blocked because his strength was relatively less than that of his opponent. Callum got out of the tie and took distance, he was at a point where he should use his trump card, magic. He couldn't start casting spells, but he could use something inherent in his Arcanum, the cosmic vision, with which he could see bits and pieces of the future.

His eyes changed, the green colour gave way to a deep purple, meanwhile Callum saw how everything developed, the thousands of movements that Corvus could make in each situation, he must hurry, if he lasted a long time in that state he could faint anytime. He went to the tracker, shot arrows without stopping, distracting him, Corvus attacked and defended himself keeping pace with Callum. He threw the quiver against him, while loading the four remaining arrows in his bow, a risky move that he had only recently practiced with Gren, when he saw him, the tracker was forced for the first time in the course of the fight to retreat.

Callum knew he wouldn't hit him, but he counted on that, after firing the bolts, he ran back against Corvus while he was distracted. In the process he had launched the boomerang again, this time he diverted it; Staff prepared, the blow went to the head, on the right side.

“Very good that one.” Corvus smiled. “But I already expected it.”

No doubt he did, in his cosmic vision he saw dozens of results and all ended up with him being hit, pushed or thrown. He wasn't going to win, but he wasn't going to lose either, at least not by much. It happened just as he predicted, Corvus stopped the staff with a hand while he punched him in the stomach with the other, causing the prince to bend and fall to the ground, unconscious. When the tracker was going to end the fight, out of the corner of his eye he saw an object approaching, the boomerang came back and hit him again at the same point of the previous time, this time knocking him out slightly.

There was still sand left in the clock, the spectators were surprised by how the battle had developed. Of course, no one expected that the young prince could win against the seasoned warrior, but be able to endure so much time, and then throw him on the ground. It showed that the boy had potential.

Corvus was lying on the floor, his eyebrow wound had opened even more, he laughed, the others would not believe him when he told them, especially General Amaya.

.……………………………………………………………………..

Callum opened his eyes, he was still in the yard, on a stretcher, his body ached.

“I must stop waking up this way.” He told himself.

“Without a doubt, it is bad for your health.” Adeena floated near him. “That was a good show, I almost thought you were going to get caught. Using the cosmic vision, how careless you are.”

“I lost.”

“Not at all.” He heard a nearby voice, corvus was lying beside him on a stretcher as well. “Actually, I was hoping to let you win, but you surprised me a lot, everyone really. You should have seen how the group of damsels and little sirs from there approached while you were asleep.” He pointed to some flowers carefully placed on one side. “Before you say the obvious they were not mourning your loss, it is customary for wounded soldiers to carry a flower from their beloved, they say it helps recovery.”

That made him blush more than before, and it was worse when he heard him say the following.

“Although I have to say that you are someone with luck, that black-haired little lady kept them at a distance when they wanted to see how you were.”

“Corvus, please, stop.”

“Hahaha. You're as easy to tease as your aunt said. By the way, I thought your eyes were green.”

Callum realized, still seeing possibilities and the spirit of the people. He quickly deactivated his cosmic vision.

“Is that sometimes the colour varies with light.”

“Nice saving, too bad it is a lame excuse.” Adeena whispered in his ear. “I think you're better, you should get up, you're making others wait.”

He sat up carefully and Corvus followed him, they both went to the group of people who chatted amicably with each other. They were mainly debating the previous combat, praising the performance of the prince and that of Corvus alike.

They went to the group in which Harrow was, with Ezran and Bait in his arms, the king, as always, gave him a wide smile.

“I'm proud of you.” The king told him. “Every day you show that you look a lot like your mother.”

“I try to keep her memory alive.”

“And you certainly do.” Viren approached. “As I told you, Harrow, maybe I could put the boy in my magic lessons with Claudia.”

“Oh please, Viren, everyone knows that you do it with the interest of being able to match them.” A lady of the Council said.

“Of course.” Admitted the mage. “Like the other parents present here they want their sons and daughters to approach the prince and get friends or something else.”

Callum blushed again, with less intensity.

“* Ahem * Leaving that aside; I don't like magic, Lord Viren, so I appreciate the offer, but no thanks.”

The high mage's face was one of disappointment coupled with something difficult to discern. But soon he was friendly again

“If it is because you think it can interfere with your other activities or studies, do not worry, it will be taught at the same times as the rest ...”

“No, Lord Viren, I think you have not understood me.” Callum stared at him, he didn't blink. “I don't like dark magic.”

There it was again, but now he could see it, coldness. The atmosphere became very tense, the temperature seemed to drop. The others looked at what they always thought was a kind and shy young man, then at the mage who seemed impassive.

“And for what reason, if we can know?” Someone from the council asked.

“Well, you said it, I look a lot like my mother.”

The message in those words was confusing, but something made Callum clear about it. He would not learn dark magic, nor did he want to know about it.

Viren took his sceptre and left after giving a little excuse.

“You have angered him. Claudia told him. Although I have to thank you, he has been trying to convince your father for weeks, and, honestly, I would not bear that you were better than me in this as well.”

“You know that I would really be as bad as in the rest the things.” He reassured her.

“I don't know..., by the way, I preferred you with purple eyes.” And she left after Viren.

“Wow, clever girl.” Adeena said. “Be careful with her.”

Harrow sighed, well... everyone did.

“Callum, I respect your opinion and even share it. But try to be more assertive next time.”

“I will try father.”

“That should be enough for now.” Harrow spoke to Corvus. “Tell Amaya that we have done our part, Callum is ready. He will leave in a week. Go as soon as you heal that.” He pointed to the wound in his eyebrow.

Corvus bowed and left.

“I must say that we are all quite impressed.” Lady Opeli hugged him. “In a year and a half, you have achieved it, you are more than prepared, I know that you will make us all proud.”

“I will, Lady Opeli.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No more action scenes in a while, I hope. This was more of an experiment, to see how much a small battle like this would take me. Conclusion, if I do the great battles of the series and those that I intend, I will divide the plot into more chapters or make them longer ... or both.I find it short though, don't you think?  
> Anyway, tell me that you prefer, I like to write but sometimes long chapters can become tedious for writer and reader alike.  
> I will continue with the sixth one, that I have it halfway.


	6. Evenere

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, and sorry for not showing signs of life in all this time.  
> Ahem. Here you have a new chapter.

“Ha! Look and cry, I have sun poker.” The young elf said.

“And me, Sky re-poker.” An impassive Callum told him.

The others who were also playing were speechless, it was already the fourth round they played and lost. The human was left with each of the bottles of moonberries juice and sunwine that they had bet. Of course, Callum wasn't bad enough to let them go empty-handed the next rounds he pretended to lose, so that they could recover some of the lost.

“Hey! One of the captains is coming, run!”

There was the end of the party. Since his little talk last time things had changed a little, despite what was said, many elves were quite friendly free spirits. And Callum enjoyed chatting and playing with them.

They were on the outskirts of Lux Aurea, the queen had never been a fan of humans, and it was unpleasant for her to have one as dangerous as Callum in her city.

The elf-dragon army was restless; they were supposed to have left a day ago. Something held them back, that something was Khessa of course, she had said that the preparations for her departure were going to be finalized. But before she had required to speak with Callum, in her palace, under her conditions.

And there they went now, they didn’t carry him in his jail/wagon nor handcuffed, the guards around him were rather decorative, so that the others didn't feel uncomfortable. As they passed through the pristine streets of the golden city, their inhabitants came out to see him. They greeted him when they saw him or looked at him badly, there was no middle ground. Some showed him the symbol of Katolis, which they had copied from his clothes and wore it hanging around their necks or on their horns, a sign that they supported him.

He recalled those months in which he was in that same city and in small settlements, preaching peace between Xadia and the pentarchy, when he still believed ... no, he still believes that it is possible, only that he cannot do it alone.

They reached the golden throne, there she was, as bright as the sun and with a heart as cold as ice. As far as he knew it, she wasn't always like that, war and conflict over the throne had made her that way.

He saw Janai next to her, they seemed to argue. When they saw him arrive the two sisters were silent. The queen watched him from head to toe, Callum respectfully kept his gaze.

“I guess you remember what is the procedure for every human who steps on my palace?” She asked.

“Submit to the trial by the light and then decide what to do with it.” The human replied. “But if I remember correctly, you have no power over me now, you must take me so that the other monarchs judge me too.”

If there was something that made her feel bad, it was that they question her authority, and much more if whoever did it was a human. Furious, she got up and with quick steps approached him, brandishing his wand with a fire ruby set at one end.

“Maybe, but they didn't say to take you whole, and I'm thinking of ripping out your tongue.”

In response, Callum stuck out his tongue. Not only was he making fun of her, he was challenging her to fulfil her threat. The people around him didn't know what to do; on the one hand those who accompanied Callum were there to defend him, even from Khessa, on the other the royal guards and the archmage of the palace were thinking if they should attack the boy who had repelled dozens of their best soldiers.

“ENOUGH.” Janai shouted from the other side. “You two, leave the games aside before a misfortune occurs.”

Neither of them moved from their place, they kept looking at each other. The human winked at the queen, basically saying he wasn't going to retract. And she had a tick in her eye, the temperature around them rose slowly, small incandescent cracks formed in Khessa's hand.

In the end, she stepped back. “Not worth it.” She said.

“Maybe for you. For me it has been an interesting experience.”

If looking with hatred served to kill, Callum would be dead a million times right now. In this case, Khessa simply clenched her fists and gritted her teeth, swallowing her pride.

Janai looked at them both with a disapproving look, in a way she looked like Amaya's, which made the boy behave better.

“Ugh! Take him outside, I’ve lost the desire to talk.”

“Your highness, as for your departure ...” One of the elves of the alliance spoke.

“Yes, yes, at dawn we will leave, I have received news that a delegation of the moonshadow elves will arrive then.”

“ _Undoubtedly, something interesting_ ...” He heard how the old man spoke.

“Aren't you afraid of being discovered?” Callum asked under his breath.

“ _For what? The cat is out of the bag, and nothing will put it inside again. Better live the moment._ ”

“You should better say that the ...”

“I hope you're not muttering some spell.” Janai interrupted him. “I have already had to repeat half a dozen times to others that you would not do anything dangerous once you entered.”

“Who? Me? If I am the living example of courtesy and good behaviour.”

That comment made him win a hostile look from everyone present. Including the old man, who he couldn’t see but feel his stare. Even the shy and good Kazi the linguist expert, or ‘finguist’ as Callum liked to say. Their area of specialization focused on sign language, both human and elven. He remembered that he had taught them, since he used it to communicate with Amaya, and it was not hard for him to teach anyone else.

“Hey Kazi, how are you? Something new to tell?”

“Oh! Yes, prince, the academy has accepted my manuscript, it will be included in the archives soon.”

“I'm glad for you. I hope to see you soon ... if everything goes well.”

“I hope so too.”

Callum said goodbye to them.

They were in no hurry; on the way they were stopped several times by people who approached to ask what they were going to do with him. He gave vague answers and assured them that, once it was over everything, he would come back to visit.

“ _You are lying through your teeth._ ” The old man said. “ _You know it is unlikely that you will come back._ ”

“I know, but to make their day bitter when they can feel good about seeing an old acquaintance.”

“ _You are too soft_.”

“Yes, I am.”

They returned to the camp, he went to his carriage, he meditated until he went into a trance. His guards knew they shouldn't bother him.

It was strange to enter astral and see himself from outside; At least that way he knew when he was dirty or poorly dressed.

“ _Where are you going?_ ” The old man asked.

He was there by his side, something strange for Callum, because he didn't usually appear on the material or astral plane.

“For a walk. I need to think.”

“ _Surely you are not going to see a certain group of elves heading here? And check if someone in particular accompanies them?_ ”

“Nope.” Callum ignored the oldster and left.

It was true that he was going for a walk ... but, the old man had changed his mind.

….................................................Back with Callum as a kid.........................................................

Bluergh!

It was the second time Claudia puked that day, she really wasn't made to navigate the sea, nor any grand water surface. Soren was trying to help her, massaging her back with one hand, while keeping her head up.

“I don't get it; you were fine when you went with Harrow and dad to visit Evenere last time.” Soren said.

“Dad-*burp*- dad helped me with one of his remedies.” It was a real feat that she managed to finish the phrase without vomiting again.

Callum looked from the side, debating between helping her or keep laughing internally. In the end, he helped, gave her a potion against nausea.

They were in a ship, heading to the first stop in his pilgrimage, well, his, Soren's and Claudia's; the adults decided it was better this way... and cheaper. Viren acceded gladly, it seems that, even he has the money to pay for it, he couldn't afford to send his children to meet the royalty of each kingdom. He wasn't that high in the hierarchy of nobility.

Callum wanted, of course, to travel alone, well, he wouldn't be alone really, Adeena were always with him. But you couldn't tell no to your father best friend, and that your father asks you to go with someone to keep his mind calm... Callum had to say yes.

“Ah! The sea, long time we don't meet...” She appeared beside Callum.

He took out the booklet, it is amazing nobody ask him why he hadn't change it until now, he had had it for more than one year.

“You won't start singing now, right?”

“Why, wouldn't you like to hear my beautiful voice?”

“Not now...”

They both snickered.

Callum was nervous, finally things got underway. At first, when the council asked him why he will go to Evenere, he had to invent a big lie, summarizing it: Evenere is one of the most affected kingdoms by the unequal human territory repartition, giving them priority, would be beneficial to their relations with them, and would mean less piracy on their shores.

Now, reviewing the content of this lie... it was truth.

Evenere hadn't many arable lands. No land, no grain, no cattle, no permanent food source, except the sea. The marshes and swamps of the island were a refuge for beasts and magical plants, too dangerous for normal humans to enter or explore. Many of its citizens were sailors, sometimes privateers, and some had seen that the faster way to a life full of luxury and comfort, was to take it from others. For that reason, every year, the three kingdoms: DelBar, Katolis and Evenere, had to take their fleets and make an intensive purge of pirates.

An unsustainable situation, but Evenere's monarchy seemed to have adapted to this situation. In fact, many princes and low nobility are still going to hunt pirates to make a name and get wealth.

Callum, although he was interested in money, he didn’t feel like going to sea for a year, and less fighting or killing other people. His plans were others; the swamps, full of life and rare plants, a perfect place for an alchemist and someone looking to get in touch with the next primal source to connect with.

“When we get to Evenere, you will finish your mission quickly.” Adeena reminded him. “Then, you and I will explore one of the oldest sites on the continent and perhaps the world.”

“How old is it?”

“When the elves went out to sea for the first time it already existed.” She smiled. “Even before the first dragon could fly.”

“Can’t be true. You are making it up.”

“Heh heh I don't blame you for not believing me, but once you see it you'll know.” She looked at the bow of the ship, she seemed serious, sad and thoughtful. “My master took me there when I won my trials. To what you call... Edenem, Aber? Whatever, it was a small village where elves and humans lived, far from everything. Far from them...”

“What kind of elves?”

“Earthblood and tidebound. Pretty friendly, especially ocean elves ... they don't like to be called that.” She chuckled. “They were the first to leave.”

“The elves?”

“Everybody. They went away from the continent, away from the archdragons, the archmages, the stupid kings and queens, from the war ...”

“Wait. What!? War? I thought the elves kicked us out, and that's it.”

“And you think it was that simple? Not everyone blamed humans for giving themselves to ... what they call magic. Before the good Ziard screwed everything, there were colonies and villages where everyone lived together, in peace.”

“So someone caused all this, and that's why we are divided.”

“No, it was not like that. Ziard was a great mage. I don't know if he came to forge an Arcanum, but I do know that he went out of his way for his people. He defended Elarion and saved them from a great famine, while our elven lords and the archdragons, watched them from above as they died.” Her knuckles became white, fists clenched.

“I guess you were there.”

“In the front row.” The hatred in her voice made Callum's hair bristle. “You are a little young, and I don't expect you to understand, but when I saw that oversized mutant lizard fly with the intention of burning a city full of innocent people ... let's say my vision of the world changed. I'm glad he went blind for life.”

“Elarion survived?”

“No, what his master didn’t achieve was finished by the servants.” She looked at Callum, she was calmer, the warmth returned to her voice. “Don't worry, my child, justice was done shortly after. The old lizard was dethroned and his successor had mercy on humans.”

She placed her hand on his shoulder Callum, the touch barely noticeable.

“Returning to happier and current issues, you are one step away from becoming a true mage of the Star Arcanum.”

It was true, in the previous weeks, he had managed to master three other spells, Adeena was surprised by his rapid progress.

“What is the difference between an apprentice and a normal mage?”

“Honestly, none.” She said with a deadpan face. “The truth is that with being able to cast one spell you can already consider yourself as a mage. However, to be called Archmage, you need to create or have a sceptre, with its primal stone set. But we'll talk about it later.” She pointed to a shadow on the horizon it grew larger as they were getting close. “I think you have to prepare to disembark.”

…………………………………………………………...

“OH! ground, how much I love you, I promise not to leave you again.” Claudia literally hugged the harbour floor.

Soren and Callum meanwhile face-palmed.

“Little sister, you know that to return we will have to take another ship, right?” Soren told her.

“And that to travel through some areas of Evenere you must take a boat.” Topped off the other boy.

She didn't answer, she buried her face in her hands, after asking Callum for all the potions for seasickness.

They could have spent the next hours teasing her, but the norm dictated that they should show up at the royal castle upon arrival and greet the queen.

The young mage wanted to arrive as soon as possible, however, his three companions had other ideas.

“Hey look at the swords here, the blade is thinner, like a skewer, what fighting style will they have?”

“Callum, Soren, come see, there are magical creatures for sale here.”

“The architecture of this place is not ideal, what will they do in storms or floods? Rebuild everything? What a waste. And let's not talk about goods storage ...”

Let's say not everyone was very focused on the task.

After basically pull them through the streets of the city, they reached the door of the castle, which was on top of a hill, where they were received by one of the stewards. They were guided through the halls and halls to the throne room.

The truth is that it was quite fancy for what they expected, of course the place was suitable for the environment in which it was built, and to last in the terrible weather. All without taking away the feeling that you are visiting the castle of royalty.

“Announcing the arrival of his highness, Prince Callum, Lord Soren and Lady Claudia of Katolis.” They heard the steward say.

No doubt they were waiting for them. In the room was not only the royal family, whom he recognized from his parents' wedding ceremony and other visits, there were also those who appeared to be the local nobility, along with his offspring. Callum felt his head start to ache.

“Welcome to Evenere.” Queen Fareeda said. “We hope your trip has been pleasant and that you enjoy your stay.”

The three bowed in greeting and respect, and said how pleased they were with the reception. Before leaving Katolis, they had received the intensive manners review of Opeli, if she got word that they had been rude, well, it was better that they were not.

During the next two hours they were there, being observed and presenting themselves to the different guests. Needless to say, none was really used to social events or to be the centre of attention, Callum was, but it was even a lot for him. Soon it was over, the guests left, and were left alone with the queen.

“* Sigh * My apologies.” She started. “I tried to keep your arrival as discreet as possible, but even in the most closed places a rat can sneak in.”

That was one of Callum's conditions, when he wrote to each of the monarchs, he kindly asked them not to do any kind of celebration or anything, he wanted to make his pilgrimage as calm and fast as possible. Of course, there were complaints of this, he was a prince, and should be treated as such. Even so, he managed to convince the rest to follow his plan, without much result at the moment.

“It doesn't matter, your majesty.” Callum assured her. “We are happy to have come well here. And as you say, there can always be information leaks.”

He looked at Soren, who should have talked too, he was distracted, Claudia gave him a little pinch on his arm.

“Ahem, yes, Queen Fareeda.” His mind seemed to have returned to his body at last. “As you say, it was inevitable.” They did their best not to roll their eyes.

The queen chuckled, amused by the scene of the three youngsters.

“Thanks for understanding. Now, I know you are here to win my approval and thus complete your trip. I'll get to the point, my advice and I have decided what will be your assignment.” She picked up a scroll and unrolled it. “For the young crown guard; you can decide between going to the sea and capturing three pirates of the highest rewards, or traveling to the swamps and hunting one of the great beasts that inhabit it.” She didn't wait for Soren to answer, continued reading. “For the apprentice and daughter of the high mage of Katolis; our magic experts want to exchange points with you and continue your development, or you can go with your brother to sail or hunt.” She pushed the scroll aside, looked at Callum, she was smiling but not with her eyes, those were those of a predator viewing its prey. “For the prince; you can prepare several cauldrons of their famous potions, hunt pirates, or go on an expedition to the swamps.”

The three were stunned.

“Ouch! What a viper!” Adeena said.

…………………………………………………………...

“Argh! I knew, not everything could work out.” Claudia was sitting on the bed, clasping her hands over her head.

“Dad and the king warned us, we did not know that we would have a trap as soon as we arrived.” Soren, with his arms crossed, looked at the floor.

A well woven trap, they hadn't seen it coming. The quiet city, the people doing like they didn't recognize them nor the emblem of their clothes, the accidental reception, with all the lords and ladies ... the false apology. Everything to make it seem like she was the good one.

The assignments described were ... in a clear way, a dead end. She had made sure that all of them took Soren and Claudia away from the prince in one way or another, to who she only gave one option in reality. Work for us for free.

As for Callum's other two options, of course, everyone knew about his adversity to violence. And knowing what was in the swamps of the island, nobody in their right mind would dare to take the third ...

Callum knew that the trade of his products was high and beneficial, but this was to go overboard. If they had asked him to teach them I would have done it with pleasure, however they pretended to have him there without knowing how much time, as a volunteer alchemist.

From Claudia, they would want any secret that her father has taught her, not many used dark magic, but those who did, competed with each other for knowledge.

It was no secret that Soren was one of Katolis's great promises as a warrior. To have him cleaning the seas, of the scum that sails on them, or hunting dangerous creatures in the swamps, was to take advantage of him.

They were in the room they had given to Callum and Soren; Claudia's was right next door. The queen had given them time to think ... about the little way out she had left them. No doubt right now she and her council must be gathered, laughing at their expense. Too bad things were not going as they thought.

“Well, I don't know about you, but I've already decided.” He told them.

“I bring you the shackles or do you prefer rope?” Soren scoffed.

“If it is to hunt your beast, go ahead.” Callum replied. “I'm going to the swamps and I invite you to it.”

“Ok, that's all I can stand.” Claudia got up abruptly, hands up. “If Callum, the most rational of us wants to commit madness, we are lost.”

“I would not say that I…”

“Yes, you are the sanest.” Soren interrupted him. “Don't deny it.”

“Ok ... So I tell you my plan or do you prefer to go with the flow?”

The two brothers looked at each other.

“For now, what I want is to have dinner and go to sleep.” Soren let out an exasperated sigh.

Coinciding with what he said, one of the servants brought them food. They dined in silence and then went to sleep.

…………………………………………………………...

Well, he didn’t.

Like every night Callum took its astral form and roamed the place where he was. Adeena accompanied him during his walks, said that now that he was in his age, someone should watch that he wouldn't abuse his power, all while she chuckled, and wiggled her eyebrows. Sometimes it seemed that she tempted him to do so.

He was already accustomed to the empty and dark corridors, walking through them in silence, floating through the walls, his only relaxing moment of the day.

“Do you think it will work?” They heard at the end of the hall where they were going.

Around the corner they saw two members of the queen's council.

“Let's hope so. You have already seen the effectiveness of that boy's potions. With them we can give them to our soldiers and end the pirate brotherhood.”

“If Katolis finds out ...”

“They will not. And they can't do anything, it's part of their pilgrimage, heh, heh.”

That was all he needed to hear.

“Gravitas: levitate.” His hands were quick, the rune variant was drawn and the spell cast. The two men began to levitate, so frightened they shouted to the nearest guards, before someone else arrived Callum had returned them to normal and was gone.

“You should not be angry; politics works like this.”

“Even in your time?”

“Especially. Back in my day; kings and queens were not as peaceful and united as today. Think about it, you are two sides facing each other; Xadia and its different kingdoms, with their elves and dragons, and your pentarchy, with their minor conflicts.”

“You mean the corsairs?”

“Between other things, it seems. I repeat again; you must think a bit. Every soldier who is not patrolling or training, is hunting criminals. And the seas are wide, full of islands and caves to hide.”

“So you want me to put on the chains and take out the cauldron.”

“Far from it, but you must empathize sometimes, not all are or will be your enemies, not always.”

He understood, but it wasn't easy, he didn't like to feel used.

He continued with his walk, on the way they found no more people than the servants, who were finishing their tasks, and the night patrols. Everything was going well until ...

“Hi Callum.” Someone called him, turned abruptly and saw Claudia, in her bedding, and with strange glasses.

He stood still, he didn't know how to react. Many questions passed through his head, how long has she known? Had she seen him more times? Did Viren know?

“What a face you have. Don't worry, my father doesn't know.”

“Since when?” He asked.

She shook her head and pointed to the lenses.

“I can see you, not hear you.”

He invoked a partchment, which she could see. He repeated the question in writing.

“Not much.” She replied. “I began to suspect when you left and disappeared for hours. Soren said you were going through the passageways to play with the rats. And during the trip I saw you fly that way, and…” She continued listing her suspicions and inquiries.

Callum got very nervous, maybe she could also see Adeena, who wasn't worried, floating near Claudia, examining the lenses. In the end she spoke.

“Do not worry. She can't see me, they are made of normal glass and she has enchanted them with dark magic. If anything, she can see the layers closest to the material plane, where you are right now.”

He sighed in relief, then wrote.

**We must go to a more secluded place; the guards could come.**

“And? It's not like I'm doing something wrong.”

 **No. But you, a young lady, in her bedding, talking to an invisible friend at these hours.** **It's not normal, don't you think?**

She nodded and guided him to her room. Callum resisted looking at her clothes lying on the chair, or at the bed, or Claudia's luggage... which he was obviously looking at. In the end he chose to lie on the bed and look at the ceiling.

“Pervert.” Adeena said laughing.

“Yeah ... sorry for the mess, I had a lot to think about.” She said. “Anyway, you must tell me how you do that.”

He already expected that, he didn't know what to do.

“I warned you to be careful around her.” Adeena was also lying beside him, whispering what she said. “Invent something credible, because if I do it won't sound like something you said.”

**I can't.**

“What?” Asked the little witch.

**That I can't tell you how it is done, I can simply do it.**

“But ... that is impossible. What you do is magic and it's not dark magic, I know that it disgusts you, and what remains is ...”

 **Primal magic?** He finished for her. **Yes, I think that is what I can do.**

She was thoughtful, you could see the gears of her mind spin.

“That's why you asked me to find a primal stone for you, you wanted to see if it was similar to what you were doing. And the lights in the tower, he also explains, it was you experiencing ... Wait, did you go to that place? Even when you promised not to enter? What did you find?”

 **Questions one by one please.** He took a breath. **I've known for a while, after my mother's death, I knew that I could part with myself and move as you see me, like a ghost. Then when I couldn't take it anymore, I went to that place, I just found a scroll, I'll let you see it when we come back. And yes, I've been practicing to keep it under control.**

She watched him, it wasn't a well-mounted story, but he hoped that at least she would believe it a little. She seemed to look for a fault in anything he had said, or some change in his expression.

“Okay I believe You.”

**Then ... you will help me keep the secret.**

“Only if you tell me why you want to go to the swamp.”

**Isn’t it obvious?**

She shook her head.

**In the texts I've been looking at, they speak of this place as an old meeting point for elves. They celebrated something ...**

“And it has to do with your condition and that's why you want to see if there are any clues.”

**Bingo. Do you see how smart you are?**

“Humph! Even so, I don't know if it will be good for you to go.”

**Everything will be fine, you'll see. Now I think we should go to sleep, tomorrow we have to give bad news to the queen.**

They said goodbye and he went to his room, did not try to leave again, saw with his cosmic vision how Claudia was standing watching if he was going to sleep.

“That has been a good one, you're getting better at lying, I'm worried that you get used to it.” Adeena spoke to him.

“Yes, it worries me too.”

“Nothing will happen as long as you don't have to make it a habit. You just have to make sure that nobody else catches you doing things that you couldn't before or ... if you tell them the truth.”

“I thought you didn't want me to do that.”

“Before Yes. Now, when you have the strength and influence to defend yourself, you can go and show off your magic all you want.”

“No thanks, I don't like to show off… I go to bed I have a busy day tomorrow.”

“Definitely.”

…………………………………………………………...

They were in the throne room again; the queen was tapping the arm of her throne seat while her eyes were closed. The council members did not look good either, pale and with their mouths open.

The three youngsters had met before having breakfast and going there, they had said they would tell Fareeda that they would go into the swamp. Soren and Claudia would hunt one of the great beasts and Callum would map some of the unexplored areas.

“Is that your last answer?” She asked, the anger in her voice was noticeable.

““Yes, your highness.”” They said in unison.

“It is not too late for you to think about it.” She twisted her mouth. “You can take a few more days, especially you, Prince Callum, our swamps are not safe for someone who is not used to living here.”

“You should not worry. I count on Soren and Claudia to accompany me, and, the training my aunt has given me is the same as that of the Katolis elite.” Callum looked at the council. “Also, it is part of our pilgrimage.”

Some of the counsellors, especially the two last night, went from pale to purple, and fainted.

Of course, nobody knew that last night he heard them talk, except Claudia maybe, and she didn't make the connection. As for the others, they wondered how the boy knew they were using that as an excuse and that they used those same words.

“Since you are not going to change your mind ... I have no choice but to give up and let you go.” The queen looked dejected. “I ask that you still reconsider, if you see that it is too much for you, you can come back and choose another.”

“Thank you, your majesty.” Claudia said. “We will do it if necessary.”

As soon as they left, they heard screaming from inside the room, the queen was arguing with her advisors, or rather blaming them.

“Buff, remind me to never be on your bad side.” Soren told him. “I don't know why you said that, but what an effect it has had, for a moment I thought, that I was going to give those guys a heart attack.”

“Soren, I've only used your trap against them. It is obvious that no one in their right mind would decide to go to the swamp. They didn't count on me having reasons to go.”

“Heh, and you take us with you for ...?”

“Do you really want to go hunting pirates?”

Soren glanced him. “No. But Claudia could be quiet in a studio learning magic ...”

“Brother, you know that was another ploy, right?” She said. “They wanted dad's knowledge.”

“Ok and what did they want from me?”

“A soldier for free.” The other two said at the same time.

“Huh huh...”

…………………………………………………………...

They went to the city for supplies, they needed food, clothes, and camping things. They had to ask for ponies in the stables, they only gave them two, Callum preferred to go on foot, he was not good at riding.

Soren and Callum dedicated themselves, later, to gathering information, each to their usual sources, the youngest was asking around the market and hunters, in addition to going to the castle library; He didn't know what Soren did, but he came back with the mark of a kiss on the cheek. Claudia went for ingredients for her spells. During your preparations; they did not ignore the looks that some servants and others gave them. It seems that some rumour had spread behind them.

After a few hours they were ready to leave, all loaded, and even the queen went to say goodbye to them, did not hide her disgust.

“I have seen funerals more cheerful than this.” Adeena commented. “Although I don't blame her, no matter how bad your plan is, I would also be angry if some brats ruin them.”

“Now you will tell me that you are on her side.” Callum muttered.

“Of course not. However, we must think of something to help them ... you are not the bad guy in this story ...”

And so they began their journey, the first of many, and no less dangerous than the rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to write this with my little free time. It hasn't been half as good as I expected, but it could be worse. Let's start with the little explanations:  
>  **World**  
>  _Evenere_ ; A nation on an island with huge swamps, I thought the capital would be on the coast, let's face it, I don't think it's easy to build on land like that, no matter how magical the world is.  
> When I saw the kings during their meeting with Viren, it was disappointing, true that the chapter was not about going to meet them and know how they are, the protagonists were Viren and Aanya. So I will assume and invent what their personalities are, except Ahling's, that seemed to have some brain.  
>  _Piracy_ : We have seen that even in Xadia there are thieves, * cof * Nyx * cof *, so maritime nation = pirates. It is not necessary to develop it much.  
>  **Magic**  
>  There have not been many samples of it in the last chapters ... I'm sorry.  
>  _Gravitas = Gravity._ It allows the maage to control the force of gravity on something or an area.  
>  _Levitate_ (in latin please) _= lightness._ Optional part, but it serves to make things lighter. I know there is another word that works better than that, but in my notes I couldn't find it and the internet didn't help.  
>  _Lux Stellarum = starlight._ Not proud of this one. It only invokes the light of the stars and concentrates it on a number of balls of light that depends on the mage. Combined with other draconic words you can change its function.  
>  _Sagittas = arrow._ By itself and depending on who uses it, an energy arrow is casted. Combined with other spells, it concentrates their energy and uses it to form the arrow.  
>  **Mysteries and secrets**  
>  This goes for my friend, I know you're reading this (although you never leave me comments XD), but also for others.  
> The identity of the old man = SECRET.  
> What did the cinnamon roll (Callum) do to be exiled? = SECRET.  
> Is Adeena dangerous? = No idea ...  
> The answers will arrive in due time. But seriously, don't think about it too much.


	7. An old tale

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY  
> IM BAAAACK!  
> However you are here for the Chapter, so I see you in the endnotes.

Rayla was ecstatic, happy, she would finally have something to show her worth, to erase the stain left by her parents.

Runaan had called her, both, along other assassins, would leave for a meeting of the great leaders of Xadia, where they would be entrusted with a mission, and her uncle had recommended her along with others. Ethari didn’t agree very much, but it wasn’t his decision, and she was old enough to choose what she want.

They had recently arrived in Lux Aurea, she and her group saw a great army camped outside. Something unusual, she knew from the lessons in Silvergrove that elves rarely allied in such a way, something important was happening.

She was picking some moonberries when she felt him, how he got to her. It was familiar, because other times it had happened.

“Gaoth an iar, is that you?” She asked.

He appeared out of nowhere, just like the other times. He wore his blue and red robe, with small bright spots on the sleeves and on the edges; his clothes were typical of travellers, although his were always as new. White hair, messy, two pairs of horns and five fingers in each hand. She knew it, he was a halfling, but she didn't care, for her, he was a friend.

“Who else? How have you been little adoraburr?”

“Who do you call ‘little’? I'm still taller than you.”

“We'll see for how long, I'm still growing.” He smiled.

They liked to banter, it was their thing. Well that and hide from Uncle Runaan. Despite how well they got along, halflings were frowned upon throughout the elven regions. It wasn't that everyone saw humans in a bad way ... it's more that they thought they were not trustworthy; and it was unique, the fact that an elf fell in love with a human enough and had children with that human.

If there were such children, the couple would surely hide in an isolated place, safe from the most radical opinions that would see the couple and their offspring badly.

So it was usual for her to always ask.

“Are you sure they haven't seen you coming? I wouldn't want you to get in trouble, or worse.”

“Heh. Did you forget that I am an incredible mage, with powers over my Arcanum?”

To prove it one more time, he drew a rune in the air and made a table and a pair of chairs appear with his magic, for both, on the table was the same game of cards and another of dice from the last visit and a game of chess. Both sat down, and started playing and chatting.

“Hey, do you know why so many elves are gathered?” She asked.

“They are escorting a prisoner.” He answered, avoided her gaze.

“Seriously? What's that guy's name?”

“Callum.”

“The archmage?” Her eyes widened. “The human who lives on the border?”

“In the flesh. It seems they take it away to be judged.”

“Ha I'm glad. Humans are not trustworthy...” She realized late what she had said. “I mean, not everyone obviously, your father was a good guy because of what you told me.”

“Yes… he was.” He scratched his neck. “Don't worry, I don't mind if you say that, I know from experience how bad humans can be. But there are many more good than bad.”

“That is what you say, however I have heard what they did to the dragon king and his egg.”

“Zubeia must be in bad shape.” He trembled. “I can understand what she is feeling.”

Rayla laid her hand on his cheek, he looked at her.

“Don't be sad.” She told him. “Oh! I was talking to Ethari, I didn't mention your name, but I told him that I met an orphan with a somewhat special condition and that if I could take you home. He said maybe, and that we should convince Runaan, especially when I mentioned that you were a halfling. He doesn't see it bad and hasn't said no.” Her eyes shone with excitement; He had long since lost himself in her gaze. “So when we return from this trip, if we return, I hope, you can come with us to live.”

He didn't answer.

They didn’t continue the topic, both showed their hands, he had lost. She cheated, he knew it but he had never complained, he didn't care, it was part of her training as an assassin. They played a little more, switching between dice and chess, they talked until the moon was high, which was when they said goodbye, then he made the table and chairs disappear and after looking at her one last time he disappeared.

Rayla was always surprised by the way he left, not even the best moonshadow elves can disappear completely, without even leaving a trail of his essence. She decided not to think about it anymore, now she must think of a good excuse to tell Runaan.

………………………………………………………………………….

“ _You know, the day she finds out who you are and that you've lied to her, you're a dead man._ ” The old man said.

Callum undid his disguise, one of the advantages of his astral form is that he could change shape, with some limits.

“I don't think she will, I probably won't see her again.” He said. “Besides, she seems very sweet and calm.”

“ _Boy, trust the experience, no matter the gender or race; nobody likes to be lied to, and less if the lie come from someone you love._ ”

“Pfff, come on, I admit we are good friends, but from there to love me... I don't think she has such bad taste.”

“ _...What I said, you are a dead man._ ”

Callum shook his head.

He had known her for some time, a few weeks after being exiled to the border and building his watchtower. He was looking for lilies of the moon, an essential ingredient for his invisibility potions. He found her in the prairie of the adoraburrs, she was playing with the little creatures. There was something about her and the scene that made him unable to look away.

Luckily or unfortunately, adoraburrs seem to be sensitive to the star Arcanum, or all of them in general, to the point where they can see those in their astral form. Imagine the surprise they both took when these creatures started jumping to play with him. At first the inevitable happened, she drew her swords and he, in panic, decided to change his appearance, however in a hurry, he stayed halfway. So when he appeared in front of her, she took him for a halfling.

A story was invented, one in which he was the result of love between a border guard soldier and a skywing elf. His father had died years ago, and his mother had kept him hidden and away from other elves all his life, until he had recently passed away. Now he was traveling and staying hidden.

He thought that he would not believe him, but she did, since then they met from time to time. He never got to tell her his name, but because of the way he appeared and disappeared, she began to call him ‘Gaoth an iar’, the west wind, in an old elven dialect, the west part was added by him. He thought that sounded cool. In general, she called him ‘Gaoth’, just saying the full name to make sure it was him and making it clear that he could appear. They played games, talked about their problems, and once in a while they had sparring sessions together. During those moments he forgot everything, what he had done and who he was, he gave himself completely to his new person.

“Maybe if I get out of this I will become Gaoth...” he murmured.

“ _That would be a good change, and it's not like you don't have the means to do it_.” The old man said.

But Callum knew the truth, he brought his hand to his neck, where that was. His leash, which would prevent him from making any of his dreams.

He returned to the camp, back to his carriage, to his body, saw several elves sitting around a bonfire and decided to approach.

“Hey! What are you doing so late?” He asked.

“Hi mage, come, sit. We are telling stories.” One of them told him.

“Seriously, which ones?”

“Well, so far we have told the saga of the seven spirits, the ballad of the frozen plains ...” said the minstrel. “Oh! and someone has asked for the snooty dragon and the mountain of silver.”

“I like that one.” Callum said.

“Tell a story, mage.” Someone said.

The proposal was well received and others encouraged him to tell one, even the old man.

“Alright. I don't know if it will please you, but here we go. It is titled, the boy and the face stealer.”

……………………………………5 years back…………………………………….

Callum was vigilant, to anything that moved in the thicket, he held his spear high. Soren, meanwhile, tried to find the trail again.

“Can we continue now?” Claudia said impatiently. “We have been still for a long time.”

“Patience is not your thing, isn't it?” Soren wasn't in the mood either.

It was the second week since they had entered the swamps, as expected, they had had many difficulties since they arrived. First, and more irritating, insects, balms helped, but not for everything. The stagnant water in some areas and its smell, Claudia had vomited again. And of course, the three dozen types of poisonous plants, and the wild beasts that abounded there.

They were following the trail of one of the most dangerous beasts that lived there, the bunyip, a horse-tailed creature, fins and long fangs. Its fur was hard, capable of moving through the water at high speed, but slow on land and with a size similar to that of an adult banther.

It was not easy to find them, the muddy lands are a real challenge for a good tracker, not to mention for some rookies. Although in fact they did have an expert, Adeena. She dropped clues through Callum, a casual comment, pretending to see something curious… Needless to say, she did not agree that they were going to kill what she called one of the rarest creatures in this world, to which Callum responded with the bloody attacks the creature had made on the local population. They agreed that they disagreed.

Why a bunyip? Simple, Soren heard stories of the beast and thought: What better way to demonstrate what was his worth than hunting one of the three deadliest things that inhabit the swamp? Claudia and Callum had protested, fought and lost, not in arguments, rather that Soren was the major in charge.

They had managed to hunt more creatures of course, and Callum had mapped a large part of the unexplored areas. However, Evenere's council members had put them on condition to finish, perform a great feat, and Soren had chosen to hunt the bunyip.

“Callum, there are claw marks on the trunk of that tree.” Adeena finally spoke. “The bunyip does it to mark its territory, we must be close. Tell him.”

Callum did, Soren doubted him a little, but they had no more so they followed this and what looked like similar marks.

They crossed another quagmire, reached the creature's lair, left the ponies behind, carried the essentials. Soren his sword and his crossbow; Claudia. her backpack with her ingredients to cast spells; Callum carried his bow and quiver, with his staff and boomerangs.

“Well, this is the plan.” Soren said. “We create a distraction, something simple, we make it get out, we confuse it with your smoke bombs.” He pointed to Callum. “And Claudia then ties it with something of her abracadabra, and you and I begin to attack it; You with arrows, me with the crossbow bolts. Any questions?”

“I have one.” Claudia raised her hand, the other was inside her bag. “What do we do if it is not in the cave?”

“We’ll wait for it to come and enter.”

“And if it comes right now for us?” The young woman's face expressed fear.

They heard the faint growl, the splash of the beast's footsteps ... Callum was the fastest to react, launched a smoke bomb that was activated instantly, they separated in different directions. It was heard as something crashed into the metal, at a glance they saw marks of the beast's claws in Soren's armour.

It had thrown him away, at least he didn't hit a rock during the fall. Callum threw a boomerang against the head of the bunyip, it hit his target but failed to hurt him. At least it worked as a distraction, the bunyip was now going for him. He jumped to the side to avoid the beast’s ramming, it managed to hook one of its fangs into the boy's boot and began to shake him from side to side.

“C-Claudia, this is a good time for one of your spells!” He yelled as he struggled.

She took something out of a jar, a strange-looking seed that she squeezed in her hands.

“Dnammoc ym rednu stoor”. (Roots under my command).

Her eyes turned black and magical energy enveloped her hands; He hit the ground with both, roots of nearby trees emerged from the ground and began to hit the bunyip, which released Callum after a couple of them. He and Soren seized the opportunity, and threw projectiles at the creature, none went through the fur.

“That will not work.” Adeena told him. “Use your magic, sagittas will be enough, the magic will reinforce the arrow, that way you can hurt it.”

“And what about them discovering my power?”

“She already knows; That the other also, doesn't matter. The only important thing is that you survive.”

“You mean everyone, right?”

“Yes… Watch out!”

The bunyip was running away from Claudia's roots, in the process he had decided to attack Callum again, and now it was with its jaws a few inches away from him. He used the bow to block it, if the bunyip didn't tear him with his fangs, he would kill him by crushing him with his weight. It was difficult for him to breathe, less and less force in his arms, the beast also noticed.

“Take that!” He heard Soren scream.

The bunyip uttered a howl, the boy had stuck his sword in his side, he hadn't dug much, but it was enough to cause damage. Soren pulled out a dagger and also tried to hammer it into it, pierced slightly, enough for the creature to scream again.

The bunyip began to wallow violently and slam into the nearby rocks and logs, Soren clung to the two weapons and rode the animal's backs. Claudia was waiting, roots high, aiming for an opening. Callum was waiting too, two arrows placed, he had already applied the spell.

Soren couldn't take it anymore, took out the sword and the knife, from the fur and threw himself just before the bunyip rammed another rock. The little witch threw her roots to hold it. Callum launched his arrows, which hit the other side of the animal, and penetrated deep into the body, the bunyip began to bleed. That made it even more angry, it fought against its ties, both boys saw that Claudia would not endure much.

Callum traced the other rune variant.

“Gravitas: Gravis!” He shouted.

It was as if they had thrown something on the beast, it sank into the mud and the earth. Callum felt the magical energy run through his body to his hands, it was exhausting, more than other times.

“Soren!” Claudia shouted. “Finish it!”

Soren approached, sword raised, and began beating the beast's neck with it. For an endless moment, only the last cries of the bunyip and the blows of the sword and the head dropping were heard when it was cut.

The animal's body was still, no longer moving or struggling, it was there, between the roots and with Callum's spell still activated, which stopped. They watched as Soren picked up something and wrapped it in his cloak, was covered in blood, with the armour dented in several places by the fight.

“Next time, we will make a plan from afar.” He said with a smile when he approached them.

The three collapsed, tired and without strength for anything else. Even Claudia didn't protest the dirt that stuck to her clothes and hair.

“Claudia ... please ... tell me you've chosen an easier target.” Callum told her as he sat up.

The girl got up with difficulty, she removed chunks of mud from her hair.

“Do not worry, unlike you, boneheads, I have chosen something simpler, I must bring a green dart, you know the dragonflies that represent Evenere ...”

At that moment the two boys stood up quickly and approached her, they were pale, as if they had seen a ghost. Even Adeena was completely transparent.

“Claudia.” Callum started. “Do you have any idea where those dragonflies live?”

“Eerr ... no?”

“In the freaking damn centre of this swamp! Where it turns out that no human who has gone has ever returned!” Soren yelled at her.

“And how could I have known!?” She tried to defend herself. “There is nothing in the files of Evenere that indicate its exact location, all the documents say that it is in this damned place!”

“Well, you could have asked the court, the other scouts, the very queen ...!”

“Yes of course, as if that snake was going to help us ...!”

Both began to argue.

In his case, Callum, sympathized with Soren. It was understandable, because they had just survived the battle against the bunyip by pure luck. And they were already quite inside the swamp, the most dangerous areas began a few steps away, where ancient magical creatures roamed the lurking of unsuspecting animals or lost people.

“It doesn't really affect us both.” Adeena commented. “Our plan was to go there as soon as we separated from them.”

“But we didn't think about extra luggage ...” Callum mumbled.

“We just have to be more careful, you'll see, everything will be fine.”

“You still haven't told me what we are looking for.”

“Nothing. We are looking for nothing; you are stepping on one of the oldest primal sources in the world. If you don't feel its power, even a little, then I failed as a master ...” She started to make a scene, acting as the victim.

Callum stopped paying attention to her, pretended to listen to the two siblings argue, while immersed in his thoughts. He had felt the primal energy that emanated every plant, every piece of earth or rock, only that it was diffuse and seemed to connect somewhere, in the centre of the swamp. It was slight but I could see how hundreds of threads connected the magic in each element of the landscape to there. However, be it his Star Arcanum or his instincts, something inside him was shouting that he shouldn't approach that place.

“Gravitas: levitate.”

Due to custom he drew the rune of Gravitas once more and levitated Soren and Claudia.

“What the f...!” Soren was the first to react, although he was already a meter from the ground.

“Callum! Get us down immediately!” Claudia, because of the fight, had forgotten to pick up her backpack and tried to reach it, wanted to undo his spell.

“Are you going to calm down?” He asked blankly, he was tired and didn't feel like hearing them discuss.

““Yes ...”” The two said in unison. With a simple hand movement, both fell with a thud, well, Soren, Claudia floated down gently.

“Ok, explain to me right now how you did that.” Soren rose from the ground; his sword was pointed at Callum. “And I won't believe that my sister or my father have taught a couple of tricks, everyone knows that you hate dark magic.”

Callum sighed, he almost preferred to tell them the truth, but his plans required that he keep the secret for longer.

“What if we talked while we put the camp? I don't think you want to face whatever comes for its dinner.” He pointed to the corpse of the bunyip, or what was left.

The swamp had acted fast, in those minutes, insects and small critters had climbed and started to devour the carcass.

Soren sheathed the sword and glared at him, kept some distance from him. Even Claudia seemed upset.

‘Luckily it was a small spell, if I show them my entire arsenal, even if they are not more than five runes, they would have attacked me.’ He thought.

They went back to the ponies, they were fine. They moved away until they found a land mass far enough from the lair of the bunyip, and sufficiently dry.

The young crownguard put the proof of his victory in a thick sack, and closed it as best he could, he wanted to avoid attracting any predator or scavenger with the smell.

They set up camp, while they did Callum answered every question of Soren, trying to be faithful to the half-truth he had told Claudia, who took the opportunity to ask him more things, especially how many runes and draconic words he knew. He responded as best he could, he felt that they didn't believe him at all.

“Okay, I believe you, but if you do something wrong, I'll be the first to hunt you down and take you to prison.” Soren said while threatening him with the fork.

“You know he lies, right?” Adeena whispered. “The amount and loyalty the boy has is incredible.”

“Well, what son is not loyal to his father?”

“No, I mean he is loyal but I feel it is not his father, if not his kingdom ... he will be a pain in someone's side in the future.”

Soren had always been an enigma to Callum; the boy showed qualities of the typical mindless thug that one is in the taverns, added to a pure heart that knows what is to do the right thing, but to which they are instilling wrong things. It was obvious that he wanted to stand out and be named captain of the crownguard, however there was something else, which he could not discern.

He waited for the other two to finish eating and calm down a bit, before addressing the other issue.

“So, do you want to hear my idea to enter the heart of the swamp?”

“Ok, let's hear it.” Soren said.

“Do you usually have vertigo?”

………………………………………………………………………….

“Have I ever told you how little I like your new self?” Claudia asked him, she did her best to look up and not look away, she held on tightly to the rope that tied her.

“A couple of times. And I don't blame you, there are mornings that I get up and tell myself how much I despise myself.” The boy said while smiling at her.

“That's not healthy, you should go every morning and tell yourself how great you are in front of the mirror.” Soren added, who tried not to show how nervous he was.

“Not everyone can have such a big ego, brother.”

It had become clear that traveling through the swamp on foot or pony was not the best way. It was easy to get lost and you were in danger of falling into one of the sinkholes that could be, the sticky mud that made you fall and make the water reach you by the neck, the things that the muddy water did not let you see ... and that without counting on the inhabitants of the place, the beasts and animals of the swamp. In short it was not good to go below, and less if you went to what was considered the most dangerous area.

So they decided to float, or almost. Callum could not lift them completely to a great height, but he could make them lighter, armour and equipment included. So there you had them, jumping between the treetops, as far as possible from the ground. And they had done well; for a long time, they only saw large shadows move beneath them, they heard the growls and howls of different creatures.

They had left their mounts in the clearing where they had camped, Claudia had protected the place with several magical trinkets. They carried what was necessary and expected to find a trip without problems, which was strangely happening.

“Hey! Since we are about to finish our tasks, have you thought about what kingdom we visit next?” Claudia asked them. “I mean, I know that the logical thing would be Del Bar, but I imagined that maybe we could leave it as the last one to visit ...”

The two boys looked at each other, they knew what was happening, she wanted to avoid if it was possible to meet her mother. It was something he had learned recently, thanks to his astral walks in which he heard all kinds of conversations. Including one in which Viren talked about it with his stepfather, Harrow.

“Clauds! Look at me.” She did just as Soren said. “Don't worry if you don't want to go to Del Bar we will find a ship that will take us directly to Neolandia, right Callum?”

“Yeah, don't worry, we still have to send what our next destination will be, and we can even delay it, do some sightseeing on Evenere.” The boy assured her. “All the others do it, besides I didn't plan to leave after finishing these tasks.”

Callum made a somewhat complicated jump, the next tree was a little further, but he wanted to avoid the great snake that was watching him from the water.

“Do not? Were you really going to visit the cultural sites of the kingdom?” Soren was somewhat incredulous at what the other had said.

“Yes, among other things. The pilgrimage is precisely for that, remembering the history of our human ancestors when they were exiled from Xadia and the border was formed. Visit the sites where they first settled and where they created their kingdoms ...”

“Ok, I get it.” Soren stopped him. “You are a nerd and you are going to take us on a nerd tour.”

Callum rolled his eyes. He pulled the rope to help the other two pass the stretch, then jumped up, he needed to see their location.

“What do you see?” Claudia asked. “Are we close yet?”

“There seems to be something ahead, its big.”

“That is more than just ‘something’.” As always, Adeena appeared to comment. “Ha ha ha I can't wait to see your expressions when you see it.”

And it really was more than something. Before them, an immense tree stood proudly in the centre of the swamp. It was not that Callum had not seen it before, for it was confused with the others equally tall around it, but the trunk was thick enough to house Katolis Castle. Its roots, thick and numerous, expanded in all directions, seemed to connect with the whole place, the whole island.

By activating his cosmic vision, he almost went blind, the tree before him emanated a lot of primal energy. It was obvious that the arcanum of the earth was strong in it.

“You have before you, puraana ek, the old one.” Adeena told him. “The earthblood elves called it that, it's not the earth nexus, but it's the closest thing you'll find ... Here you can forge your earth arcanum.”

“Wow, have you ever seen a tree that big?” Soren was speechless.

“Forget its size, don't you feel the magical energy coming from it? Father will surely want to see it himself.”

That comment made Adeena and Callum turn their heads sharply and stare at them, they had forgotten that Claudia was a mage who used dark magic, which fed on primal energy like the one in front of her. Surely she and Viren were not the only ones in the human kingdoms who would try to get a piece of that place, and now they feared what would happen if the existence of the tree became known.

“You know ... I have spells to erase the memory, give me some time and I will gather enough power to cast it.”

“Those are not the ones that were supposedly dangerous and could cause long-term brain damage?”

“Yes ... but the alternative is ...”

She didn’t have time to finish, there was a very strong tremor that unbalanced them from the branches where they were and caused them to fall to the ground, or rather to the root that was just below their position.

Before he could even do something, Adeena threw them all three with a pulse of force down, she looked terrified.

“Tell them to put on a simple face that doesn't show emotion or make gestures, they can blink and talk, but nothing more.”

“What's going on?”

“There is no time, tell them.”

Callum proceeded to do what she told him, the others looked suspiciously, until something big covered the sunlight and the three looked in terror, the strangest creature they had ever seen.

It resembled a centipede, a huge one, its sharp legs, scratched the bark of the tree when it moved, where it was supposed to be its head, more sharp appendages came out from above and below, surrounding a huge eye that when blinking changed to different faces, All of them full of horror and anguish. He passed just where they were a minute ago, in the direction of the trunk, where he then went into an opening on the side.

“A face stealer, one of the oldest and most perverse creatures of the beyond. I knew that the ancient elves would have left some kind of protection, but this is going too far. Even the great archmages of my time had trouble dealing with one.”

“Are they so dangerous?” Callum asked.

“Not even the archdragons dare to face them.”

Callum warned Soren and Claudia about the creature, she was still in shock, so they didn't even wonder how she knew that ... yet. Possibly then they would interrogate him.

“Be stealthy.” Told them. “Find Evenere's green dart and get out.”

“What are you going to do?” Soren was desperate to get out of there, no doubt the face stealer had impacted him.

“Do you remember what I told you that appeared in the documents? I think it's in there.” He pointed to the hole in the trunk and of course that made the spirits of others worse. “I must get it.” Soren grabbed him by the shoulder, obviously he wasn't going to let him put himself in danger. “Don't worry, I can with it.”

It was a terrible lie; he didn't even believe it. Fortunately, the spell to levitate was still working, he just had to push himself to get to the top and get rid of Soren's grip and Claudia's attempt.

“It is the best, trust me. When you start to forge your arcanum you will get the attention of it. They will have plenty of time to find that dragonfly and leave.”

“It is probably a stupid question, but ... why do they call them face stealers?”

“Oh! Hehe, well, you see, when they look with that eye that they have on someone and that person changes their expression, they use their arcanum to literally steal their faces and leave it blank ... like that monkey there.” And she pointed.

Callum shuddered to see it, the animal lacked every facial features, no eyes, no mouth, nose, or eyebrows. Just a smooth area of his skin where his face used to be.

“How can you feed something without a mouth...?”

“If that is what worries you the most, it shouldn't, usually they also kill their victims ... but it is very rare that it happens ... besides you have me, I will also distract it, it can't do much to me.”

………………………………………………………………………….

Claudia and Soren searched hard for the insect, or at least they tried, they kept glancing at the tree, more because of the concern that something would happen to Callum than because the monster was for them.

Soren at the time was doubting, because he had a very important mission to fulfil. Something ordered by his father in person.

………………………… ……………………………….

They were about to leave the port; his father had separated him from the group that had formed to say goodbye to them.

“Do you know why I insisted so much for you to make the pilgrimage?”

“To ... form unions with the other royal houses?”

“Well, yes, but no at the same time. Prince Callum has gained a lot of fame in this last year, and has become a very important asset for Katolis, politically, economically and socially. At first I would not care if he left, but as he progressed in his studies and his alchemical activities ... well, he is important now.”

“And that has to do with me, or us?”

“The other kings and queens are not idiots, they will have collected information, otherwise we would not have received letters with offers that exceeded each other every week. They will be anxious to get the prince tied to their lineages, and if they do not have it for them ... I am sure they will want to prevent others from obtaining it for themselves.” Viren looked him straight in the eye, he had that look he had seen on other occasions, just before casting a spell. “You must protect him from any threat, and you must avoid accepting any strange offer.”

“And if he does?” The young man asked, but he already knew the answer, his father would not bother to answer the question.

“I don't think he gets to do it, he's smart, and Opeli has educated him well. However, that does not mean that the missions they grant you are not made so that all of you fail, and do not return alive.” Viren placed a hand on his shoulder. “You must protect them, your sister and him, in any way and at any cost.”

………………………… ……………………………….

So there you had the poor boy; ready to send his sister by (soft)kicking her to the nearest treetop and get her away from there, since the spell was still going, and running at any moment to drag the step-prince if necessary and retain the monster everything he could for them to escape. His skilled hand was in the hilt of his sword for a long time, and he was attentive to any movement and sound coming out of the tree.

“Soren!” He turned quickly at the scream. “I have it!”

She had almost killed him in fright, but seeing the enthusiasm on her face he calmed down. She held in her hands a jar in which there was a green and black dragonfly crashing into the glass walls trying vainly to escape.

‘Well that solves a problem, now to see how I manage to sneak in without making noise and take out that fool...’

Before even finishing what he was thinking, the big tree began to glow, a loud screech spread through the place, forcing the two siblings to cover their ears. The light intensified, Soren yelled at Claudia to run, without result, the screech was greater than her voice.

The next moment everything went white.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I.DON'T.LIKE.JANUARY.MONTHS.
> 
> Starting every year is an ordeal, the only thing that makes it fun is my BFF's birthday. Anyway after this hellish and terrible month. I am back and with more desire than ever to write, although I am still on an irregular schedule.
> 
> P.S.: Happy new year.  
> Well let's go to what concerns us.
> 
>  **World**  
>  I am sure you will have caught the references, or maybe not, but it is basically the swamp in which Aang, Sokka and Katara are lost in book two. As for the face-stealer ... what can i say? i'm a fan of Aaravos VA  
> The bunyip is a mythological creature of the Australian aborigines, and I have taken some freedom in its design ... although not much.  
> My headcanon Sorry for what comes next. (no, I'm not sorry XD)  
> For me the elven dialect of the Tidebound elves is French, no idea why. (My brain is a mess).  
> The moonshadow, Scottish Gaelic * Ahem * Rayla VA * Ahem *.  
> And the Earthblood, Hindi.
> 
> पुराना एक/Puraana ek. The old one. More references to ATLA. It is not its name in the series.
> 
>  **Magic**  
>  _Gravis_ : It means heavy. It is used together with gravitas to specify what change you want to make.  
>  _Dnammoc ym rednu stoor_ : Roots under my command. Yes, we also add to this section dark magic when used. Like all Dark Magic spells, I think it explains itself. (When you know they say at least) What I can say is that the ingredient used is a trent nut, rare for the human side, since they live a little apart on the side of Xadia.  
>  **Ships**  
>  This is because one of my colleagues asked me. No, I don't ship ClaudiaXCallum, I think the tags make that clear. And this will be a good slowburn (with angst to spice) Rayllum, with accompanying Janaya and other ships too. Bon appétit

**Author's Note:**

> If you has reached this point, it means that you hadve read my work or skipped to the end. In any case thanks for passing by and you are welcome to come back to this crazy trip...whenever I update. Till' next time.


End file.
